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J. Pickering Putnam. 



PLUMBING 

AND 

HOUSEHOLD SANITATION 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR 



Lectures on 
The Principles of Household Drainage 

Delivered before the Suffolk District Medical Society, and the Boston 

Society of Architects, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

With over 300 Illustrations. 

From the Editor of the Sanitary Record, London. 

By permitting me to reproduce these "admirable articles in the Sanitary 
Record, you will greatly oblige me and serve the cause of Sanitary Science in 
England."— The Editor. 



Sanitary Plumbing 

Reprinted from the American Architect and Building News. 
With over 400 Illustrations. 



"These investigations have been set forth quite fully in illustrated com- 
munications to the American Architect, which papers certainly mark a very 
important step forward in Sanitary Literature." — Col. Geo. E. Waring, Jr., in 
the Century Magazine for December, 1884. 

"This important work of the laboratory has been under the direction of 
Mr. J. Pickering Putnam, of Boston, and I am sure that his experiments and 
investigations are the most comprehensive, and thorough and valuable that 
have ever been made on the subject of Household Sanitation " — Address before 
the Academy of Sciences at Rochester. New York, by Wm. E. Hoyt, C. E., S. B., 
Chief Engineer of the B., R. & P. R. R. Co.. and at «ne time Chief Engineer of 
the Massachusetts State Board of Health. Ticknor & Co., 1886. 



The Open Fireplace In All Ages 

Republished from the American Architect and Building News. 
Quarto, with over 300 Illustrations. 



"This is undoubtedly the most extensive and critical work on this subject 
in the language. The author takes up the subject of heating and ventilation 
and treats it in extenso, showing existing defects, giving a full historical resume 
of the theme, and ends by criticism and practical suggestions."— Chicago Journal. 

"A very beautiful book, artistically and practically,.'' — Louisville Courier- 
Journal. 

" It is brimful of good suggestions." — N. Y. Graphic. 

" The book is excellent from cover to cover, and a real contribution to useful 
literature." — Boston Advertiser. 



ALSO THE FOLLOWING MINOR WORKS: 

"Architecture Under Nationalism," pub. by "Am. Architect," 1890. 
"The Metric System of Weights and Measures." pub. by Library 

Bureau, 1877. 
"The Outlook for the Artisan and His Art." pub. by C. H. Kerr & 

Co., Chicago. 
"Improved Plumbing Appliances," pub. by Wm. T. Oomstock. N. Y.. 

1887. 
"General Principles of House Plumbing," in Buck's Handbook of 
Medical Sciences. Wm. Wood & Co.. N. Y., 1886. Etc.. Etc, 




w^^tik^x 



BATHS OP DIOCKKTIAX. Restaur ation by Edmond Paulin, Ai 
Published in "Eestaurations des Monuments 




a ciniijutuni if in »' 



t. Recipient of the Grand Prize of Rome, Academy of France. 
ques." Firmin — Dido et Cie, Paris, 1890. 



PLUMBING 



AND 



HOUSEHOLD SANITATION 



BY 



J. PICKERING PUTNAM 

MEMBER OF THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTS AND OF 
THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS 



A COURSE OF LECTURES DELIVERED BEFORE THE 

PLUMBING SCHOOL OF THE NORTH 

END UNION, BOSTON 




Garden City New York 

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 

1911 



A 



r* 



COPYRIGHT 

1D11 

BY J. PICKERING PUTNAM. 



^ 



©CU286132 



TO THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTS 

WHOSE UNTIRING AND' DISINTERESTED EFFORTS IN BEHALF 

IF BETTER BUILDING LEGISLATION ENTITLE THEM TO PUBLIC 

RECOGNITION AND GRATITUDE, THIS LITTLE WORK 

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 



CONTENTS 



Page 

PREFACE.— Purpose and Scope of the Work. Boards of Health 
are urged to provide themselves with Testing Apparatus 
enabling them to demonstrate the superiority of the Simple 
or One Pipe System of Plumbing over the complicated one 
now in vogue in most Cities and Towns, and relieve the 
Public of a very great and unnecessary Burden, Cut the 
Cost of Plumbing in Two, and yet at the same time in- 
crease Its Safety and Convenience. Authorities Consulted 11 

INTRODUCTION.— The Significance in Sanitary Plumbing of 
the Modern Science of Bacteriology and Chemistry, and a 
Summary of the Conclusions in the direction of greater 
simplicity to which they lead. Important Benefits which 
would result from Filtering the Air of Cities of Dust and 
Bacteria through Proper Sewer Ventilation. The Ten Laws 
or Commandments of Plumbing 18 

CHAPTER I.— Historical. Illustrations of Science and Art 

Employed in Plumbing 27 

CHAPTER II.— Influence on the Community of Sanitary En- 
gineering 43 

CHAPTER III.— Bacteria in their Relations to Sanitary Engin- 
eering. The Marvelous and Intensely Interesting Recent 
Discoveries in Bacteriology and the Great Importance of 
this Science to the Sanitary Engineer 49 

CHAPTER IV.— Sewer Air. Ancient and Modern Views of Its 
Nature and Composition. Conclusions of Modern Science as 
to the Freedom from Disease Germs of Sewer Air, and 
as to why they are unable to survive long in Sewage itself, 
and why they Cannot Rise from Liquids nor Damp Sur- 
faces. Researches and Conclusions of Modern Scientists 
on the Effects of Breathing Sewer Air 66 

CHAPTER V. — Dr. Carmichael's Experiments and Conclusions 
as to the Reliability of Water Traps for Excluding Gases 
and Germs. Similar conclusions by other well-known Scien- 
tists. Experiments on Filtration 90 

CHAPTER VI.— Further Studies on Micro-Organisms in Sewer 
Air, and in the Outer or Street Air of Cities Above the 
Sewers 110 



CONTENTS. 

Page 
CHAPTER VII.— The Main House Trap and the Reasons why 
its Use should be Prohibited by Law. Why the House 
Drains should be Used as Sewer Ventilators. Author's 
Experiments, Calculations and Conclusions as to the Im- 
mense Value of Such Ventilation and the Amount of Air 
Filtration and Purification from Dust and Germs of the 
Air of Cities it would effect 125 

CHAPTER VIII.— Sewer Ventilation, and the Reduction of the 

Death Rate of Cities through Proper Sewerage 140 

CHAPTER IX.— Traps. General Considerations and Classifica- 
tion 151 

CHAPTER X.— Mechanical Seal Traps and Their Tendency 

to Clog 154 

CHAPTER XI.— Water Seal Traps and Their Classification into 
Cesspool and Self Cleansing Traps. Dangers of Cesspool 
Traps 168 

CHAPTER XII.— Street Gullies. Why They Should be Made 

to Aid Sewer Ventilation 175 

CHAPTER XIII.— Seal Retaining or Anti-Siphon Traps, and 

Their Philosophy and Development 184 

CHAPTER XIV.— The Two Plumbing Systems, the Simple and 
the Complicated. The Hydraulics and Pneumatics of Plumb- 
ing ' 233 

CHAPTER XV.— Trap-Testing Apparatus. Experiments on 
Siphonage, Back Pressure, Evaporation, and Clogging of 
Traps, and Author's Researches and Demonstiations Before 
Sanitary Engineers, Boards of Health and others 241 

CHAPTER XVI.— Self Siphonage and Momentum 288 

CHAPTER XVII.— Water Flushing. Its Great Importance and 

Deplorable Neglect in Practice and Plumbing Legislation.. 290 

CHAPTER XVIII.— Evaporation of Trap Seals 304 

CHAPTER XIX.— Capillary Action on Trap Seals 315 

CHAPTER XX.— The Evils of Back Venting Traps 331 

CHAPTER XXI.— Wash Basins, Ancient and Modern, and the 

General Principles which Should Govern Their Construction 339 

CHAPTER XXII.— Classification of Lavatories. Plug and Chain 

Waste Cock Outlet Lavatories 350 

CHAPTER XXIII.— Valve Outlet Lavatories 362 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

CHAPTER XXIV.— Plnnger Outlet Lavatories 369 

CHAPTER XXV.— Standpipe Outlet Lavatories. Improved Lav- 
atories 379 

CHAPTER XXVI.— Kitchen and Pantry Sinks. Should be Con- 
structed on Principle of the Automatic Flush Tank 393 

CHAPTER XXVII.— Public Baths. Interesting Examples, An- 
cient and Modern 411 

CHAPTER XXVIII.— Latrines and Water Closets and Their 

Classification 419 

CHAPTER XXIX.— Defects of Valve and Plunger Closets 440 

CHAPTER XXX.— Interesting Ancient, Modern and Foreign 

Examples and Wherein They are Unsatisfactory 450 

CHAPTER XXXI.— Improved Closets 462 

CHAPTER XXXII.— Modern Trap Jet Closet: their origin and 

development. Latest Improvements 471 

CHAPTER XXXIII.— Soil and Drain Pipes and Their Classifi- 
cation 502 

CHAPTER XXXIV.— Lead Calked Joint. Its Serious Defects; 
Its Use Doubles the Cost of the Piping by necessitating 
Extra Heavy Pipe ' 516 

CHAPTER XXXV.— Flange. Sleeve, and Screw Joints 538 

CHAPTER XXXVI.— Leakage of Pipes and Joints and the Grave 
Danger of Gas and Water Leakage, and the Immense Vol- 
ume of Loss Sustained by the Public 561 

CHAPTER XXXVII.— Improvements in Pipe Jointing. Rigid 

and Flexible Joints 570 

CHAPTER XXXVIII.— General Arrangement of Plumbing Work. 

Bath Room Ventilation Outside Windows Unnecessary . . 595 
CHAPTER XXXIX.— Author's Report to Boston Board of 

Health on Siphonage and Evaporation of Traps 601 

CHAPTER XL.— Critical Review of Dr. Teal's interesting illus- 
trated ''Dangers to Health," in the Light of Modern Bac- 
teriology 630 

CHAPTER XLL— Slow Sand Filtration 661 

CHAPTER XLII.— Plumbing Laws. Critical Analysis. Corle 

Recommended by the Author 672 

CHAPTER XLIII.— Recapitulation 696 

CHAPTER XLIV. — Author's Address before Am. Inst. Archts. 707 



PREFACE. 




To the Header. 



Since the purpose of this 
course is to treat of the best 
and simplest method of obtain- 
ing healthy homes and to show 
by what means the utmost con- 
venience in plumbing work may 
be obtained with safety and 
economy, no attempt will be 
made to describe in catalog form 
all the interesting appliances 
manufactured to-day. Indeed, it 
would be impossible in a small 
volume to do even partial justice 
to their almost countless numbers. Each enterprising manu- 
facturer requires for the cataloging of his sole individual 
productions, a ponderous volume, sumptuous and costly 
enough to pay for a small king's ransom. Be- 
fore long, of course, in accordance with a law of econ- 
omics which allows of no exception, a very big Trust will 
take charge of the whole business and place the goods before 
the public in a simplified form. Then the consumers will 
constitute the stockholders and price lists will become less 
mysterious and more satisfactory. 

But in the meantime the work of combining the descrip- 
tions of all the myriads of artistic and tempting creations 
in a single volume or set of volumes for ready reference 
must be left to some specialist in business cataloging like 
"Sweet's" Indexed Catalog of Building Construction which 



11 



Preface. 

will place them all before the architect and his client in such 
a form that they can actually be found when they are 
wanted. But "Sweet's" will not be able to discriminate 
against some of these goods in favor of others, even in the 
interest of the public, because the same individual cannot 
to-day serve both as business agent and critic at the same 
time. An old and reliable authority assures us that a man 
cannot at one time serve two masters. 

The business cataloging, therefore, being provided for 
elsewhere, the public will now only require a knowledge of 
the scientific principles which should guide them in their 
selection and use of these goods. It will be found that all 
the plumbing appliances and methods of construction in use 
to-day may be grouped under certain classes or types, and 
that by means of such classification any one may, without 
laborious technical training, be enabled to discriminate in- 
dependently between the good and the bad, even though the 
bad may possess in some cases the most pleasing external 
appearance. 

Accordingly we have arranged in this volume a classifica- 
tion and explanation not of appliances but of types and 
methods of construction which will enable the reader to 
judge for himself independently, and acquire all the modern 
plumbing conveniences and sanitary advantages with the 
greatest safety and at the same time with the least expense. 

The reader is warned that he will find in these pages 
many ideas and conclusions which are not considered ortho- 
dox among many plumbers and framers of plumbing legis- 
lation.* The existing state of things has been freely criti- 



♦Some practitioners, very properly estimating- highly the "prac- 
tical" side of the plumber's work, have questioned the ability of a 
non-practitioner in plumbing or a "theoretical" man to fully com- 
prehend an art which is so technical in its nature. While an archi- 
tect does not deny that he must be something of a theorist in the 
interest of progress, he nevertheless contends that the nature of 
his work requires him to be essentially and first of all practical 
Although he may be unable to wipe a joint or set a fixture with 
skill, he is nevertheless trained to fully comprehend the philosophy 
and purpose of these proceedings. The very first thing he discov- 
ers in the practice of his profession is that there is no sound 
theory which is not based on facts and on facts alone. 

12 



Defects in Plumbing Laws. 

cized whenever it has appeared, after exhaustive experi- 
mentation and investigation, that simpler and better methods 
are possible. It is now possible for anyone to demonstrate 
for himself with little expense whether or not the conten- 
tions made herein are correct, without going through all 
the tedious and costly experiments which have led up to 
them, and if the writer wished to lay claim to having per- 
formed some slight service in his several years of effort 
along these lines, perhaps an item might be in his having 
called attention to and in a measure having developed the 
means and implements needed for such demonstration. 

His chief claim, however, is in having labored for many 
years to show to legislators and to the public in general 
(with definite, favorable results on plumbing legislation in 
more than one city), the importance of very greatly simplify- 
ing our plumbing ; in having first pointed out the significance 
of recent bacteriological discoveries in providing further 
justification for these simplifications, such, for instance, as 
the omission of the main house trap, whereby an exceedingly 
important purification and dust and germ filtration of the 
air of cities through the agency of the moist surfaces of the 
sewers and individual house drains, is effected ; and finally 
in having devised certain practical means for obtaining 
these simplifications hitherto considered impossible. 

It is hoped that Boards of Health will avail themselves of 
some simple standard form of apparatus and methods of 
demonstration which any plumber can construct of ordinary 
piping, with cistern, vacuum gauge, and ordinary quick- 
closing valves, and relieve a long-suffering public of a. bur- 
den in plumbing construction, still required in the majority 
of cities and towns of the United States, which is, to ex- 
press it in the mildest terms, a most gigantic blunder. The 
cost of such apparatus would be more than paid for by the 
saving in the plumbing of a single building. 

13 



Preface. 

It is quite as important and useful a part of the work of 
an investigator to build up as it is to tear down. It is in- 
deed, in a certain sense, useless to criticize an existing state 
of things unless some practical remedy can be offered to 
take its place. No apology seems, therefore, required for 
the presentation here of certain new methods and appliances 
which have been developed in the course of these studies 
to meet the new conditions advocated, nor for the protecting 
of some of them by patents. Yet the writer recognizes 
that however much the public may desire to see an inventor 
share with it a small part of any benefit which may be 
derived from his efforts, he is nevertheless, and, so long as 
a destructive form of competition continues to form the 
basis of the business relations between men, must be, re- 
garded rather in the light of an "innovator" to be opposed 
and punished by all who are financially interested in the 
existing order of things.* Therefore, it is the industrial 
system and not the individuals affected which .is responsible 
for the long continuation of abuses from which the public 
might otherwise be quickly freed, and for the tardy recogni- 
tion the inventor receives. Any return at all should really 
be regarded by him as more than he ought to expect under 
such conditions, and the writer should feel really much 
gratified that he has so far been able to escape from this 
unequal contest with some of his bones unbroken.f 

♦Pipe dealers are financially interested in maintaining the elab- 
orate system of piping required by back venting and main house 
trap installation, while plumbers have nothing to gain by it, but 
rather much to lose, since what money goes into unnecessary pip- 
ing is lost for better fixtures and more of them, and the public, 
alarmed by all the complication, becomes distrustful of all plumb- 
ing and tends to do away with its benefits as far as possible. 

tin spite of these discouragements, some words of recognition 
have now and then been received from disinterested parties which 
have given renewed courage and perseverance at times when they 
seemed most needed. Among them are the following from no less of 
an authority than William E. Hoyt, C. E., S. B., Chief Engineer of the 
Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg Railroad Company and at one time 
chief engineer of the Massachusetts State Board of Health : "Not 
long after the adoption of the fallacious device of back venting, it 
became evident that more efficient means of guarding against the 

14 



Original Investigations. 

It should be added that these investigations and innova- 
tions have been made in the course of regular professional 
practice, and have, therefore, been conducted in the un- 
prejudiced spirit of an architect working for the interest of 
his clients, and in some cases with their substantial aid and 
co-operation. The improvements and their protection, are 
the result and not the cause or original purpose of the 

dangers of sewer-air were necessary and persistent effort was 
directed toward devising better methods of house drainage. The 
result has been the attainment of a new order of things by the 
recognition of scientific principles previously ignored. Without re- 
ferring now directly to the experiments and investigations, we may 
consider briefly certain principles which have been established by 
them. The first and cardinal principle of science as applied to 
house-drainage is simplicity. In the place of a wilderness of pipes 
tangled in hopeless confusion about every fixture, modern science 
demands that there shall be only a simple and positive system 
which shall act with directness and certainty in every case. The 
old air pipes from traps are discarded. There are fewer joints and 
the danger from leakage is lessened. Instead of traps that easily lose 
their seal, notwithstanding the relief pipes attached, traps are 
now used that in themselves will resist the hostile influences of 
evaporation and siphonage. The new system demands that basins, 
sinks, baths and water closets shall be so constructed as to act 
after the manner of flush tanks, and scour the whole system of 
waste pipes at each discharge. It requires that there shall be no 
hidden and inaccessible recesses in plumbing fixtures, where filth 
may collect and putrefy so as to become offensive and dangerous. 
The absolute prevention of serious evils is considered of far greater 
importance than means to palliate them. 

For the development of this science credit must be given 
mainly to an accomplished sanitarist of Massachusetts, Mr. J. 
Pickering Putnam, whose experiments and investigations on sub- 
jects relating to household sanitation are unquestionably the most 
thorough and complete that have ever been put on record. The 
first of this series of experiments was made for the Board of 
Health of Boston in 1883. Subsequently, special demonstrations 
were shown before the Suffolk District Medical Society of Massa- 
chusetts, the Boston Society of Architects, and others. The results 
have been published in the "Boston Medical and Surgical Journal," 
the "American Architect," the "Sanitary Record" of London, and 
other periodicals." Wm. E. Hoyt, C. E., S. B., in an article on 
"Safety in House-Drainage," published in "The Popular Science 
Monthly." for July, 1888. 

If Mr. Hoyt has been a little over generous In his words of 
encouragement, it will not be allowed to have a permanently 
injurious effect upon the writer's character, but be considered as in 
a measure offsetting the rebuffs received from others not so 
favorable to progress as Mr. Hoyt. 

The late Col. George E. Waring, in an article published in the 
Century Magazine for December, 1884. on the "Principles and Prac- 
tice of House Drainage." wrote of the writer's investigations and 
writings equally pleasantly, saying of them that "they certainly 
mark a very important step forward in sanitary literature." 

In another place equally encouraging words by other well known 
authorities will be quoted, only enough here being needed to reassure 
the reader and cheer him forward in the study of this somewhat dry 
subject, if a treatise on hydraulics may be so designated. 

15 



Preface. 

investigations. If they are actually improvements on what 
existed before (the need of improvement being clearly 
recognized) then they are the best in the particular class to 
which they belong up to the date of their presentation, and 
as the purpose of this writing is to advocate the best, they 
will necessarily have to be described as such irrespective 
of their authorship, and even in some cases to the exclusion 
of other things in the same class, which are believed to be 
not so good. It must be left to the common sense of the 
reader to judge of the soundness of the reasoning in each 
case, and of the just motive and sincerity of the author. 
The quotations in the foot-note are only given for the pur- 
pose of placing the reader, who might naturally be preju- 
diced by these circumstances, in a more impartial and 
receptive frame of mind for judgment. 

An apology should be made for the name "plumbing," 
which has curiously enough been taken from the very metal, 
lead (Latin, plumbum) , which we are learning should rarely 
be used in its unalloyed form in plumbing at all. Brass and 
iron are rapidly taking its place. Lead is inelastic, inert, 
feeble, treacherous, unreliable for plumbing and dangerous 
on account of the fire it requires in the house for its manipu- 
lation. The ancient alchemists called it Saturn. The mod- 
ern plumber should modify this name to Satan, and debar 
his entrance and his fire altogether from the house. 

To sanitary engineers one of the most important works 
which have been published in the last decade is the record 
and critical examination of the researches of bacteriologists 
entitled "Sewer Gas and Its Influence Upon Health," by 
H. Alfred Roechling, C. E., which the writer has freely 
quoted in these lectures, and for which he desires here to 
express his obligation. More recent and equally valuable 
are the researches in the same field of our own Professor 
Charles Edward A. Winslow, of the Massachusetts Insti- 

16 



Acknowledgments. 

tute of Technology, whose aid is gratefully acknowledged.* 
Thanks are also extended to Professor Edward S. Morse 
for his courtesy in permitting the use of his remarkably 
interesting sketches which have been taken from one of his 
masterpieces entitled "Japanese Homes and Their Surround- 
ings," published by Harper Brothers, New York. 

Also to William Paul Gerhard, C. E., for valuable aid in 
connection with furnishing copies of the plumbing laws of 
a very large number of cities and towns of the United States ; 
to Mr. David Craig for many practical suggestions ; Mr. 
Craig, while acting as President of the National Associa- 
tion of Master Plumbers and of its sanitary committee, has 
performed a valuable public service in furthering the inves- 
tigations conducted for the committee by Prof. Winslow,f 
and later their publication ; to the writings of Dr. Antoine 
Magnin, Prof. H. W. Conn, Dr. Niel Carmichael, Mrs. and 
Prof. Percy Frankland, Yiollet le Due, Col. George E. War- 
ing, Dr. Teale, and many others whose works are referred to 
and duly acknowledged in the text, to "Domestic Engineer- 
ing" for a number of valuable articles which have been 
quoted and credited where mentioned, and, finally, to Mr. 
Samuel Hubbard, Director of the North End Union, of 
Boston, through whose invitation the course of lectures 
forming the nucleus of this work, was given before his 
pupils. J. PICKERING PUTNAM. 

535 Beacon St., Boston. 

*The National Association of Master Plumbers has within the last 
few months through its Sanitary Committee, made some very important 
investigations on the question of the carriage of bacteria by sewer air. 
This most careful and valuable work was entrusted to Prof. Winslow. 
and seems to entirely remove the doubts on the subjeet cast by the pub- 
lication of Major W. H. Horrocks of the English Army Medical Corps, 
and corroborates the conclusions of Laws and Andrewes. Roechling and 
others. The work is being printed by the Master Plumbers' Association. 
and is a very valuable contribution by them and its author to the liter- 
ature of the subject, and to the welfare of the public. 

tThese conclusions of Prof. Winslow as published in this report 
agree with and corroborate the results attained by the author and pub- 
lished in the "Inland Architect" of Nov. 8. 1908, and in "Domestic En- 
gineering" in 1900, 1903. 1906 and 1908. 

17 



INTRODUCTION. 




Fig. 2. Complexity and Fig. 3. Simplicity and 
Danger. Type of system Safety. Type of system 
of extreme complication recommended as a sub- 
to which we are tend- stitute. 
ing. 



At the time 
when these lec- 
tures were first 
delivered, in the 
winter of 1899- 
1900, the plumb- 
ing laws of Bos- 
t o n and of 
nearly every 
other city of the 
United States 
enforced a sys- 
tem of piping 
and trapping 
which almost 
doubled the cost 
of the work in new buildings and more than doubled it in 
repair work over what was necessary, besides greatly lessen- 
ing its convenience and safety. 

Every fixture was required to have a separate trap, and 
every trap had to be independently revented by a special 
"back vent" pipe extending up to the highest fixture in the 
building. A disconnecting trap was required between every 
building and the public sewer, which prevented the best and 
only known really effective method of ventilating the sew- 
ers ; and no better method of jointing cast iron pipes was 
allowed than the unscientific, unreliable and very costly lead 
calked bell and spigot joint. 

These worse than useless and very burdensome require- 
ments have held the people like a vise for the last quarter 



18 



Simplification of Plumbing. 

of a century in spite of the protests during all that time of 
many of the leading sanitary engineers and plumbers. 

Within a very few years, however, some of the more wide 
awake and progressive cities have seen the folly of this 
course and have given their citizens the benefits which the 
modern simpler and more scientific methods and discoveries 
have provided, and every year is adding to their number. 
But as the plumbing laws of the majority of places are based 
upon the ideas of more than a decade back, the only possible 
way to present anything of the least value in this important 
department of architecture is to break entirely away from 
the conventions of ordinary practice and base all our conclu- 
sions upon direct personal investigations and absolute dem- 
onstration. Our treatment must therefore necessarily be- 
come largely critical and argumentative throughout, and, 
although this method of handling the subject is certain to 
arouse from many quarters adverse criticism and possibly 
some bitterness, it is nevertheless evidently unavoidable, and 
will also have the great advantage. of making the matter 
vastly more interesting and we hope much more intelligible 
to the reader. 

The arguments used by the writer as early as 1884 in 
behalf of this simpler plumbing system have been of late 
greatly reinforced by the discoveries of the bacteriologists. 
The data they have furnished and their significance from a 
sanitary standpoint have been summarized by him in his 
publications before 1909. as follow r s : 

(1) A sound water seal affords a reliable barrier against 
the entrance of sewer air and all kinds of germs. 

(2) Dust and germs falling into water or against the wet 
surfaces of sewers and drain pipes are, under normal condi- 
tions in the drains, arrested and prevented from rising again 
into the air so long as the surfaces remain wet. 

(3) Abnormal conditions prevail in the drains when 

19 



Introduction. 

splashing or bubbling occurs in the sewage under the influ- 
ence of which fine droplets may be projected into the sur- 
rounding air. If these droplets contain germs and are 
minute enough to be wafted in the air currents passing 
through the pipes the germs therein may remain in the air 
until they again fall against the wet surfaces. Even germs 
have a definite weight and the speed of their descent under 
the influence of gravity has been calculated, which gives 
also the speed of an air current necessary to support or move 
them. 

(4) It is possible that small particles of sewage which 
have dried against the upper parts of the walls of the sewers 
may be detached therefrom by air currents and in this man- 
ner under rare instances allow of the escape of germs into 
the sewer air. The probability of this action is denied by 
some investigators, but affirmed by others. It may be ad- 
mitted as a possibility. 

(5) Disease germs seem to be unable to survive long in 
sewage, the non-pathogenic germs therein far outnumbering 
them and destroying them by their products. 

(6) Fewer germs are found in the air of sewers than in 
the outer air above the sewers, and those which are found 
in the sewer air are dissimilar in kind from those in the 
sewage but similar to those in the outer air. 

(7) The number of germs present in the air of well venti- 
lated sewers exceeds that in less well ventilated sewers, and 
varies with variations in the content of the street air, imply- 
ing that their origin is from without and not from within the 
sewer. 

(8) The majority of investigators have failed to isolate 
specific disease germs from the air of sewers, and it may be 
stated in general terms that they are not to be found there 
under normal conditions. Yet a few well known investi- 
gators have obtained cultures in the air of sewers of germs 

20 



Recent Discoveries in Bacteriology. 

apparently coming from the sewage under normal conditions, 
and it is generally admitted that the splashing, bubbling or 
drying of the sewage may release them under rare conditions 
in good practice. Their numbers in sewer air must, how- 
ever, in properly constructed sewers be so small in the whole 
volume of the sewer air, that their effect regarded from a 
sanitary standpoint may be considered as negligible. 

From the above data and from his own experiments the 
writer has derived the following general conclusions af- 
fecting Sanitary Engineering. 

(i) It is known that disease germs, especially those of 
consumption, may be disseminated in the air above the 
sewers, and may, especially in times of epidemic, abound 
there in large numbers, and unquestionably in larger num- 
bers than in the air of the sewers themselves. 

Under such circumstances street air passing through 
the sewers and house drains becomes filtered by them and 
emerges from the pipes freer from its dust and germs than 
when it entered, and must in fact before reaching the tops 
of the stacks above the roof be entirely freed therefrom. 

(2) Air currents rising through the soil pipes in build- 
ings act like smoke in chimney stacks, taking a spiral course 
as they ascend. In so doing, as well as in passing around 
bends and angles, every particle of air tends to strike against 
the inner surfaces of the pipes more or less often before 
reaching the roof. The result of this phenomenon is that 
any dust and germs which might enter the house drainage 
system from the public sewer is bound to be arrested some- 
where along the wet surfaces of these pipes, and be ulti- 
mately destroyed. Hence with good plumbing the possi- 
bility of the entrance of a disease germ into the house from 
plumbing pipes becomes practically nil. If there is any 
danger whatever of contracting disease from air in the sewer 
itself so ventilated, all such danger is thus eliminated for 

21 



Introduction. 

residents in the houses connected therewith. More question- 
able germs are consumed every twenty-four hours in the 
ordinary food and drink or inhaled from the outer air than 
would probably be obtained from the soil pipe air in a life- 
time. 

(3) The omission of the disconnecting or main house 
trap converts every house drain into a sewer vent and in- 
sures the destruction of any dust and germs, pathogenic or 
otherwise, which may under normal or abnormal conditions 
be found in the sewer. 

The rate of purification of the air of cities by this method 
of filtering it through the sewers and house drains is very 
great, amounting, by my calculation, to over a million and 
a half cubic feet per minute for every square mile of the 
city's area, or to the ventilation produced by a ventilating 
chimney 68 feet in diameter conducting air at a speed of 
419 feet a minute. 

(4) The use of the main house trap obstructs sewer ven- 
tilation, and results in forcing any foul and dangerous odors 
it may contain as well as any possible disease germs into the 
street through the sewer gratings.* 

(5) The use of the "back vent" pipe with traps tends to 
destroy their water seal by evaporation, where unvented 
anti-siphon traps are capable of retaining their seals under 
all conditions encountered in plumbing practice, and for 
many months without refilling. 

(6) Drain piping may now be installed in such a manner 
as to be permanently sound and reliable. 

(7) Splashing and bubbling in sewers may be avoided 
by their proper construction and regulation. 

(8) If there be any danger whatever from the pos- 



*The money saving alone from omitting the main house trap and 
its necessary connections and the extra piping it involves in a city of the 
size, say, of Boston, would amount to a sum sufficient to build and equip 
ten handsome public school houses, or in general, two for every square 
mile of a city's area. 

22 



Bearing of Bacteriological Discoveries on Plumbing. 

sible presence in rare and isolated cases of disease germ* 
in the air of the sewer, that danger may be practically elim- 
inated by ventilating the sewer through the house drains 
and using sound piping and unvented anti-siphon traps. 
Under such conditions there is indeed a possible danger of 
contracting disease from dust and germs coming in through 
open windows, but none from the plumbing system, because 
the former may and the latter cannot transmit the germs. 

In my suggestions for improvements and modifications 
founded on the above deductions hereafter to be described 
in detail in these pages, I have been guided by the fol- 
lowing ten rules or principles : 

(i) The Law of Simplicity. The tendency at present is 
toward undue complication. The plumbing work has been 
growing each year more elaborate and costly, more difficult 
to set correctly and more difficult to comprehend and repair 
when correctly set, so that the public have become alarmed 
and confused. They despair of being able to understand the 
intricate system of piping and machinery for the supply and 
waste fixtures. The result is a general feeling of insecurity 
and a tendency to forego plumbing fixtures wherever their 
presence is not an absolute necessity. Our watchword should 
be "simplicity." Rather than reduce the number of our con- 
veniences, let us reduce the amount of machinery connected 
with them, provided we can do so without reducing the 
security they are intended to afford. 

(2) The Law of Accessibility. Another leading principle 
is that all plumbing work in a house should be everywhere, 
without exception, accessible, and as far as possible visible 
and ornamental. Pipes should never run behind plaster 
when it is possible to expose them on walls and ceilings. 
There is nothing in a neatly arranged line of metal piping 
that one needs be ashamed of. On the contrary, when skill- 

23 



Introduction. 

fully placed and neatly jointed, in a workmanlike manner, 
as would be the case when a good plumber knew they were 
to be forever exposed to view, these bright metal pipes, 
polished or white enameled, become quite ornamental when 
mounted with handsome clamps and symmetrically arranged 
with taste and judgment. 

(3) The Law of Avoidance of Mechanical Obstructions. 
A third principle is to avoid all mechanical obstructions, such 
as balls, valves, gates and all other impediments to the water- 
way, and in a system of water carriage to do all trapping by 
means of a water seal alonev 

Mechanical devices form no reliable security against the 
passage of sewer gas. These valves and balls cannot be 
made to fit their seats with such accuracy as to exclude 
liquids and gases, or microscopic germs, even when new. 
They soon become more or less fouled with dirt and corro- 
sion and then their inefficiency becomes evident even to the 
eye. A sound water seal, however, properly protected, is 
found to be entirely reliable in excluding noxious matters 
of all kinds. Moreover, we are obliged to rely upon a simple 
water seal whether we desire to or not, because our water 
closet traps are and must be constructed without mechan- 
ical obstructions. It is useless to apply mechanical closures 
to our smaller traps if we leave the large water closet traps 
without them. 

(4) The Law of Tightness and Flexibility of Jointing. 
A fourth principle is that all joints should be permanently 
tight, and to secure this evident desideratum no material 
should be used in jointing which is injuriously affected by 
any of the substances brought in contact with them, or by 
changes in temperature, concussion or shrinkage. 

(5) The Law of Soundness of Material. A fifth principle 
is that all material used be sound, and all pipes of even thick- 
ness and capable of resisting a suitable pressure test. 

24 



Ten Commandments of Plumbing. 

(6) The Law of Thorough Ventilation. A sixth principle 
is that all main lines of soil and drain pipes should be thor- 
oughly ventilated from end to end. 

(7) The Law of Adequate Flushing. A seventh principle 
is that all parts of the waste receptacles and pipes be thor- 
oughly flushed with water from end to end in such a manner 
as to remove all foul matter instantly from the house as 
soon as it is generated. 

(8) The Law of Automatic Operation. An eighth prin- 
ciple is that the working of all parts of the plumbing system 
should be as far as possible automatic. 

(9) The Law of Noiseless Operation. A ninth principle 
is that the operation of all parts of the work should be 
noiseless. 

(10) The Law of Economy and Prevention of Water 
Waste. Finally, all parts of the work should be economical 
in construction and designed in such a manner as to avoid 
the chances of waste of water and damage of property 
through leakage. 

These ten broad principles must be accepted by all sani- 
tarians. I designate them as the ten laws or commandments 
of plumbing. They are self-evident, and may be at once 
adopted as axioms without discussion. It is to be regretted 
that in the manner of applying them in practice, however, 
we do not find the same universal harmony. 

535 Beacon St., Boston. 
Jan. 1st, 1911 



25 



CHAPTER I. 



SCIENCE AND ART IN PLUMBING. 

"It is held as a fundamental principle in science that every 
opinion, before it is admitted as true and taught to others, shall 
first be established by proper proofs, which must not in any way 
run counter to established truths, such as, for instance, that twice 
two are four and not five. Inferences and conclusions which are 
opposed to such truths are rejected by science." — Liebig;. 




Fig. 4. 



Lavatory of the Monks in the Abbey of Fontenay, 
From Viollet le Due. 



France. 




should 
a room 



O EXECUTE the plumbing of a modern 
building after the methods now prescribed 
by the laws of many cities in such a manner 
as to provide perfect security and conveni- 
ence would involve so great an expense as 
to be beyond the means of the ordinary 
house owner. A very general impression 
prevails that complete safety in this domain 
is unattainable and that all the plumbing 
be relegated to some detached building or at least to 
especially devoted to it and ventilated by a window 



37 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

of ample size opening directly upon the outer air. This is, 
however, a popular fallacy. It is possible to enjoy the ad- 
vantages of plumbing fixtures with safety and economy 
wherever convenience dictates, and to present the grounds 
for this assertion and show the manner in which the work 
may be done is one of the objects of these papers. 

It is no very flattering commentary upon our methods 
of self government today that both legislation and common 
practice in one of the most important domains of house- 
hold sanitation have, for a long time, been directly opposed 
to the actual demonstrations of science, and to the teach- 
ings of acknowledged authorities. 

Yet such is the fact. The public has preferred to suffer 
very serious dangers and submit to a very burdensome 
form of taxation rather than, by independent experiment 
on suitable apparatus, to establish the truth for itself by 
proper proofs where conflicting opinions as to facts origi- 
nally existed. It has assumed the right to legislate, but 
not always to investigate, and this even in a case where 
direct investigation was clearly essential to serviceable leg- 
islation. 

Since, however, no attempt at exhaustive or satisfactory 
public investigation and experiment had been made, so far 
as I could ascertain, to establish a sound basis for plumb- 
ing legislation, and since the public records of private in- 
vestigations were both incomplete and fundamentally con- 
flicting, I decided, in 1883, to make an attempt myself to 
obtain sufficient data for independent judgment by careful 
original experiment. 

These investigations were made originally in behalf of a 
medical client, who, like myself, considered sanitation a fea- 
ture of primary importance in the construction of his house, 
and soon resulted in a conviction that the complications of 
the system of plumbing in vogue were worse than useless. 

28 



Science and Art in Plumbing. 

They led subsequently to a more elaborate series of ex- 
periments, with the aid of Major L. F. Rice, C. E., for the 
Boston City Board of Health in 1884 and still later in 1885 
to others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
where the simpler system of plumbing, including the aban- 
donment of back-venting and of unnecessary trapping was 
advocated before the Suffolk District Medical Society of 
Massachusetts, the Boston Society of Architects, and 
others ; to a series in the city of Worcester and elsewhere ; 
and to a critical study of the subject of household sanita- 
tion extending up to the present time. 

They have, I think, established certain facts which had 
previously been in dispute, and suggested certain improve- 
ments in methods and in details which will be referred to in 
their proper place. 

Suffice it to say, for the present, that in accordance with 
the precept of Liebig, quoted as our heading, nothing has 
been accepted, or will here be presented as a fact unless it 
has been established as such by positive demonstration; 
and with the aid of the excellent apparatus which Mr. Hub- 
bard* has here erected for us, we shall be enabled to present 
to you some of these demonstrations in an attractive as well 
as instructive form. In order to make our meetings as sat- 
isfactory and fruitful as possible, it is hoped that every one 
present will make a note of any points which may not be 
perfectly clear to him, or of any deductions with which he 
may not be fully in accord, and mention them in the dis- 
cussions following the lectures, so that the reasoning lead- 
ing to these deductions may be re-examined or more clearly 
stated. 

Just as a healthy mind and body are the first requisites 
for the enjoyment and usefulness of life, so the items of 



*Mr. Samuel Hubbard, Director of the North End Union, under 
whose auspices these lectures were originally given. 

29 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

house construction which affect its healthfulness should be 
the first concern of those in charge. They require and jus- 
tify the attention and decorative treatment of the architect 
as much as do lighting, ventilating, warming, roofing, fire- 
proofing, painting, floor or wall construction ; for architec- 
ture consists in nothing but the proper assemblage of all 
these parts, and style in architectural design is nothing but 
a graceful expression of the truth in treating them and in 
combining them into one harmonious whole. 

It is sometimes objected that the architect cannot be ex- 
pected to have the equipment of civil and sanitary engineer 
as well as that of architect ; that to permit of this he must 
first be relieved of half his present cares and responsibili- 
ties. It is certainly true that he should be relieved of many 
burdens, legal and commercial, which have no bearing 
whatever upon the art and science of architecture. Co- 
operation and system will ultimately afford him this relief.* 
But architecture can no more stand as a living art without 
its engineering base controlling everywhere the outward 
form than can an animal stand without its muscles and 
skeleton. The arrangement of the plumbing pipes and fix- 
tures influences the entire plan from foundation to roof. 
Some of the rooms are designed almost exclusively for the 
plumbing, and all are more or less dependent upon its ar- 
rangement. The walls and beams must be slotted and 
framed for its reception, and differently for each different 
kind of fixture or system of piping, as well, as for the light- 
ing and heating apparatus. Hence the architect may feel 
that upon him will ultimately lie the responsibility not only 
for the healthfulness, convenience, attractiveness and cost 
of the particular work over which he mav have immediate 



*A further consideration of this subject is given in my pamphlet 
entitled "The Outlook for the Artisan and His Art," published by 
C. H. Kerr & Co., Chicago, 111. 

30 




Fis. 5. A Fourteenth Century Cistern and Ba^in. 
31 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



charge, but also, in a great measure, for the general status 
of plumbing art and legislation throughout the country. 
A few illustrations from the architectural monuments of 
the past will show in what manner and with what loving 
care the architect of former days was permitted to dignify 
the simple plumbing work of his time. 




Fig - . 6. Early Carved Basins. 

Our initial cut, Fig. 4, shows a most interesting fountain 
lavatory in the Abbey of Fontenay, France, which was for 
the use of the monks, fifteen of whom at a time could wash 
their hands in the spacious basin. They were accustomed 
to come to their ablutions in a most orderly manner, march- 
ing in single file along the arcade, and entering the basin 
court through one arch, and after the ceremony, filing out 
again through another. 

32 



Science and Art in Plumbing, 




Fig. 7. Early Carved Basin. 



Unfortunately these beautiful communal basins, so deco- 
rative from an architectural point of view, were every- 



33 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



where destroyed in France by the monks themselves when 
they abandoned the custom of washing at the same time 
and together. 

Here, Fig. 5, is a picture of a 14th century cistern and 
basin in Battle Hall, Sussex, England,* and Figs. 6 and 
7 are other highly decorated basins in Gothic design of the 

13th and 15th centuries.f 
Fig. 8 is a design of a 
fountain executed by Viol- 
let le Due in mediaeval 
style. It is constructed of 
copper engraved and 
stamped in high relief. 
The cistern is filled by lift- 
ing the roof. Below is a 
lavatory for the hands, 
and towel racks are built 
into the corner towers. 
Figures 9, 10, 11, 12 
and 14 show the artistic 
manner in which the 
mediaeval architects de- 
signed their exterior lead 
and stone water leaders, 
and how skilfully the 
plumbers, who were then, 
as the name implies, work- 
ers in lead in all its forms, 
executed these designs. Figures 9 to 14 show water spouts, 
gutter connections, and roofing details. The last two show 
how the edges of the sheets of lead were bent up and 




Fig. 



Drinking Fountain 
and Lavatory. 



♦From "Domestic Architecture of the Middle Ages," published 
by J. H. Parker, London, Vol. 2, p. 46. 

tFrom Viollet le Due. Dictionnaire de l'Architecture, Vol. VII, 
pp. 196-197. Figs. 9 to 19 are all from Viollet le Due. 

34 



Science and Art ix Plumbing. 



covered so as to make expansion joints without the use 
of solder. The section D shows the manner in which the 
sheets were rolled together. 

Figure 15 shows us the 
great beauty of plumbers' 
lead scroll work in the grand 
epoch of mediaeval art. 

Figs. 16 and 17 are two 
French mediaeval baptismal 
fonts. 



Figure 18 shows one of the 
richly carved and beautiful 
lavatories which adorned 
some of the monastaries and 
palaces in the middle ages. 
They were often placed in the 





Fisr. 10. 





grand hall itself, and consisted of great basins of marble, 
copper or lead, intended for the daily use of the host and 

35 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

for his guests before a repast. They were provided with 
quite a number of little gargoyles or jets to throw the water 
upon the hands of the users. All these ornamental lava- 



^jUij, «paS|tei) ^X^ a - 




Fig. 16. Baptismal Font in the 

Church of Saint Peter at Mont- 

didier, France. 12th Century. 



Fig. 17. French Baptismal 
Font of the 13th 
Century. 



tories have disappeared from the monastaries since the 
revolution of 1793. They usually had the form of a large 
tank, long and deep, with an open trough or sink in front 
to receive the water. This lavatory adorned the abbey of 



36 



Science and Art in Plumbing. 

Saint Armand of Rouen and contained the coats of arms 
of the various abbesses. It was cast in bronze in the 13th 
or 14th century and was made in three compartments, each 
devoted to a particular order in the convent. 

Figure 19 shows one end of this lavatory in detail. 

Figs. 20 and 21 are compositions by Bouchet** and rep- 
resent public baths in Pompeian style, the pictures being, 




Fig. 18. Lavatory in the Abbey of Saint Amand at Rouen.* 



however, rather designed in the spirit of Pompeian archi- 
tecture than taken from actual restorations. You see how 
the architects, hydraulic engineers and plumbers have co- 
operated to produce resorts so charming as to constantly 
tempt the citizens to habits of cleanliness. 

Fig. 22 is a Nymphee or beautiful bathing "Grotto" of a 
wealthy Roman patrician. This involved a somewhat more 
complicated system of hot and cold water supply. Self- 
closing faucets had not been specified, and so the five fix- 
tures on the right and left of the tub had to be left run- 
ning "full bore" at all hours of the day and night. Fig. 23 
is an illustration of the splendid art of India applied to 
water works. It represents the waste weir outlet of Kangra 
tank, Ahmedabad, India. 

Finally, our frontispiece shows the magnificent Baths of 



Vol. I. By Viollet le 



♦From "Dictionnaire du Mobilier Francais, 
Due. Published by A. Morel, Paris. 

**From "Compositions Antiques," by Jules Bouchet, Paris. 

37 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




Fig. 1 



Diocletian, the beautiful drawing being the production of 
Edmond Paulin, winner of the Grand Prize of Rome, of 
the French School of Fine Arts. 



Figs. 1 to 19 are from Viollet le Due's "Dictionaire de V Archi- 
tecture." 

38 



Science and Art in Plumbing. 




39 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




40 



Science and Art in Plumbing. 




41 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




rs^iBBK ■■■ $m 



WMmmmmti 



,a l-A''?iK' trip- -I 



42 



CHAPTER II. 



Influence on the Community of Sanitary 
Engineeing. 




Jdtsf?osa/ of Mouse/totd Wastes 



Fig. 24. 



A mastery of 
the principles o<f 
household sanita- 
tion is essential 
not only for the 
welfare of the in- 
dividual owner 
and occupants, 
but also to a 
greater or less ex- 
tent for that of all 
neighboring prop- 
erty owners. Dis- 
ease originating in 
one locality may 
''dispatch invisible 
messengers 
of death to poison 
the air" miles 
away, and both 
science and phil- 
anthropy now 
unite in teaching 
us that every man 
is in large meas- 
ure responsible for 
the well being of 
his fellow men, 
and no where 
more clearly than 



43 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

in the domain of household sanitation is it shown 
that man is in reality his brother's keeper. Nowhere is 
the doctrine that society is an organism in which the in- 
dividual members correspond to the separate cells of the 
animal organism in being mutually dependent for their 
complete health and development more clearly illustrated 
than here. Nowhere is it made more evident that sanita- 
tion should become the subject of wise legislation to the 
end that the health of the community may not be prejudiced 
either by ignorance or poverty. 

In the middle ages cities even as magnificent as Paris and 
London were very dirty places, the streets being described 
as more foul than the most abominable sewers, the horse 
manure standing in them, according to one writer, some- 
times as much as "a yard deep." It is recorded by the 
royal physician Rigord that one day while King Philip Au- 
gustus was looking for recreation from his audience cham- 
ber window, he saw some citizens' carriages passing below 
"when the substance forming the street, being stirred up by 
the revolution of the wheels, emitted a stench so powerful 
as to overpower Philip. This so disgusted the king that he 
urged the citizens to pave the streets ; and to assist in effect- 
ing the purification of the city, he built a wall around the 
cathedral to prevent it from remaining longer a common 
corner of convenience." 

Fig. 24 shows the common manner in which house refuse 
was disposed of in these beautiful cities. The people seemed 
ignorant in those days of the first principles of household 
sanitation and hygiene and the result of their ignorance was 
the spread of the cruel plagues and pestilences everywhere 
in the populous districts, mowing down both rich and poor 
alike in their relentless path. 

The floors of their dwellings in those ungodly times were 
not drained, but as refuse collected upon them, straw was 

44 



Influence on Community of Sanitary Engineering 

spread over the matter to cover it, and this was so rarely 
removed ''that the lower part remained sometimes for 
twenty years together!" Mr. Bayles* quotes the old chron- 
iclers as saying of the ladies of that day, that "they wore 
clean garments on the outside, but the dirty ones were often 
worn underneath until they fell away piecemeal from their 
unwashed bodies." "The people prayed," says Bayles, "for 
deliverance from sickness and death, but forgot their gar- 
bage heaps, their foul streets, dirty houses and personal 
uncleanliness." 

Much as we are shocked at hearing these stories of the 
old chroniclers, we have, after all, much less reason to con- 
gratulate ourselves on our progress since those dark ages 
than is generally supposed because we have been criminallv 
slow in applying for the general good knowledge which we 
have since acquired. Mediaeval conditions still exist in the 
tenements of the poor, a rebuke and a menace to modern 
society, because we have not yet learned that the real and 
only perfect welfare of each lies in the perfect welfare of 
all. Our ground for congratulation is proportional only to 
our progress in the acceptance of this truth. To this is 
due our sanitary legislation and the aid society gives in the 
execution of these laws to those too poor to make applica- 
tion of them themselves. Mr. Simon of the English Local 
Government Board, writes: "It seems certain that the 
deaths which occur in this country are fully a third more 
numerous than they would be if our existing knowledge of 
the chief causes of disease were reasonably well applied 
throughout the country; that of deaths which in this sense 
may be called preventable, the average yearly number in 
England and Wales is about 120,000; and that of the 
120,000 cases of preventable suffering which thus in every 
year attain their final place in the death register, each unit 

♦"House Drainage and Water Service," by James C. Bayles. 

45 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

represents a larger or smaller group of other cases in which 
preventable disease not ending in death, though often far- 
reaching ill effects on life has been suffered-! Then there 
is the fact that this terrible continuing tax on human life 
and welfare falls with immense overproportion upon the 
most helpless classes of the community: upon the poor, the 
ignorant, the subordinate, the immature ; upon classes 
which, in great part through want of knowledge, and in 
great part because of their dependent position, cannot ef- 
fectually remonstrate for themselves against the miseries 
thus brought upon them, and have in this circumstance the 
strongest of all claims on a legislature which can justly 
measure, and can abate their sufferings." 

The next picture, Fig. 25, shows a tenement house of 
New York described by Leeds* in the "Technologist" for 
February, 1870. It illustrates a dwelling quite as wretched 
and unsanitary as anything to be found in the dark ages, 
and infinitely more disgraceful as existing under the full 
light of modern science. It recalls to us the lines of Burns, 
quoted by Baldwin Latham in this connection : 
"Man's inhumanity to man 
Makes countless thousands mourn." 

But Mr. Latham in his inaugural address as President of 
the Society of Engineers of London, shows that in addition 
to the injustice and cruelty of permitting these unsanitary 
conditions to exist, there is also great economic folly in it. 
He took for illustration the town of Croydon showing an 
expenditure in sewerage and general sanitary improvements 
of $975,000. He then showed figures which made a saving 
of over $1,200,000 in the short space of thirteen years in the 
increased effectiveness of labor due to these sanitary meas- 



tDr. Lyon Playfair calculates that for every unnecessary death 
we have twenty-eight cases of sickness. 

*A Treatise on Ventilation, by Lewis W. Leeds. Wiley & Sons, 
New York. P. 166. 

46 



Influence on Community of Sanitary Engineering 

ures, and concludes in these words : "Although it has here 
been attempted to put a money value on life we individually 
feel that life is priceless, and that we may look to the 2,439 
persons saved from the jaws of death in this single town 
(of Croydon), as the living testimony of the great value of 
sanitary work. To allow to perish by sanitary neglect is 




Figr. 26. Plan of New York Tenement House. 



just the same as to take so many persons out of their homes, 
and forcibly put them to death; and yet if this were done 
the whole nation would revolt at the crime. Yet in how 
many instances do our local authorities calmly look on while 
poor and innocent victims are condemned to breathe 
poisoned atmosphere, or drink poisoned water which is a 
great crime in the eyes of humanity." 

Some of the worst of these dens are being removed to 
give place to better. But the question is, how the former 

47 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




7\m, 

Fig - . 25. section of a New York Tenement House. 

inmates will be able to pay the higher rents the improved 
quarters command until the public recognizes its full duty 
and true self-interest in the matter. 



48 



CHAPTER III. 



Bacteria. 

Before we can properly judge of the relative merits of 
different systems of sewerage and plumbing, or of different 

kinds of appliances 
used in them, or of 
the effect of sewage 
decomposition upon 
our heahh, we must 
study the nature of 
the substances with 
which we have to 
deal. The discov- 
eries of the last few 
years have radically 
altered our methods 
of treatment of sew- 
age, both within and 
without the building. We have through these discoveries, 
learned why it is that sewage must be quickly removed from 
our neighborhood instead of being allowed to remain in 
cesspools long enough to undergo putrefactive decomposi- 
tion, and why and how oxidation should be accomplished, 
and it is chiefly through the revelations of the microscope 
in the mighty world of microorganisms that this all im- 
portant knowledge has been given to us. 

The science of bacteriology has become to the sanitary 
engineer, in a certain sense, the most interesting and im- 
portant of all sciences, though dealing with the most infinit- 
esimal of all known living organisms. Without its aid he 
has been groping about in darkness. With it he proceeds 



\ 



Fig. 




Mediaeval Metal 
and Plumber. 
From Viollet le Due 



Worker 



4<> 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

boldly forward on firm ground to the goal of perfect sani- 
tation. 

Let us, therefore, go with the biologist into, his laboratory 
for a while and view with him the marvels of the micro- 
scopic world, the little beings upon whose activity all life 
on our planet depends, the agency through which new life 
returns from death ; the silent, untiring builder, infinitesimal 
and impotent as a single individual, but gigantic and irre- 
sistible as a collective force. 

The word "bacterum" or "microbe" means to most people, 
even today, something terrible and destructive, because only 
within the last few years have we learned the vastly greater 
importance of these organisms for good than for evil, and 
see in them our indispensable friends. There are black 
sheep among them, but they are as few, comparatively, as 
the criminals in human society who constitute the "rogues' 
gallery." There is no family of visible plants which begins 
to compare with these microscopic ones in importance. 

Although there are now known to be several hundreds or 
perhaps even thousands, of different species of bacteria, 
they have only a few general forms which correspond 
respectively to spheres, rods, and spirals. Our Fig. 28* il- 
lustrates all of these forms. At the top we see in Figs. 1 to 
5 of the plate, the spherical bacteria, called micrococci. Al- 
though they all look alike, they are nevertheless all of en- 
tirely different species, those in Fig. 2 being disease germs, 
and the remainder being germs of fermentation. Fig. 6 
is a yeast bacterium which forms the beautiful rose- 
colored patches on cooked potatoes. Next below come the 
rod formed bacteria, Figs. 8 to 16, some of which are in 
process of division into shorter pieces, the usual method of 
multiplication of bacteria. Those in Fig. 10 come from the 



♦From "The Bacteria," by Dr. Antoine Magnin, translated by 
Dr. G. M. Sternberg. 

50 



Bacteria. 




Fig. 28. Bacteria. 



surface of sour beer. The remaining figures show the spiral 
bacteria. Fig. 17 is named in this plate as the "vibrio ser- 



51 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

pens," and Fig. 21 the "spirillum volutans." Fig. 19 the 
"spirillum tenui," single and felted into "swarms." 

All these organisms are far too minute to be visible to 
the naked eye. The spheres vary from one to six one-hun- 
dred-thousandths of an inch in diameter, and the rods and 
spirals have a thickness about the same as the diameter of 
the spheres, and a length varying all the way from a little 
more than their thickness up to long threads of a thousandth 
of an inch or more. 

Frankland,f speaking of the size of bacteria, says we 
could have a population of them one hundred times as great 
as that of London settled on a single square inch, without 
any complaint of overcrowding, but giving each individual 
organism one four-hundred-millionth of a square inch of 
space, which is quite adequate for a citizen in the common- 
wealth of these Liliputians. 

It is in their enormous and almost incredible power and 
rapidity of multiplication that their importance lies, some 
species having been observed under the microscope to di- 
vide every half hour or less. They infest all our surround- 
ings, entering our nostrils with every breath we take, swim- 
ming in every draught of water, and are in full possession 
of every inch of ground we stand upon. 

They do not, however, descend to very great depths in 
the soil, few existing, according to Prof. Conn,J below four 
feet. At the surface they are very abundant, and if the 
ground is moist and full of organic material the number 
may range here from a few hundred to several millions per 
grain. In the ocean they are found at all depths within a 
hundred miles from the shore, as well as in the sediment at 
its bed. At the rate of reproduction observed, each bac- 
terium would have over sixteen million descendants in a 



f'Our Secret Friends and Foes," by P. F. Frankland. 
1H. W. Conn, "The Story of Germ Life." D. Appleton & Co., 
N. Y. 

52 



Bacteria. 

day, and over 281 billion in two days, aggregating in weight 
about a pound. At the end of the third day, if the process 
were uninterrupted, the descendants would weigh about 16 
million pounds, and in five days they could, if properly 
nourished, fill the entire Atlantic ocean solid full. Fortu- 
nately, however, Nature supplies the bacteria with a num- 
ber of enemies most wonderfully adjusted to keep them 
within proper bounds. 

Now this marvelous power of growth is chiefly due to a 
fact which gives the bacteria their extreme importance in 
Nature, especially to the sanitary engineer. Other plants 
require simple substances like carbon dioxid (C0 2 ) and 
water for their nourishment, but the bacteria are able to 
feed upon the complex organic material of animal and plant 
structure. They tear this structure after death to pieces, 
chemically speaking, and prepare it for new forms of life. 
The discovery of the conditions under which this is done is 
revolutionizing the science of sewage disposal.* 

Some species of bacteria have, in addition to the power 
of reproduction by simple fissure, a second method by 
means of spores which develop within them, and the man- 
ner in which the spores grow serves as one of the points by 
which the different species of bacteria are distinguished 
from one another. The spore serves the purpose of keeping 
the species alive under conditions of adversity, through its 
wonderful power of resisting extreme heat (in some cases 
for a short time, even above that of boiling water), severe 
cold, desiccation, and all sorts of rough usage, which would 
speedily destroy the parent germ. Indeed they are, says 
Frankland, ''the hardiest forms of living matter which 
science has yet revealed." 



*See Frankland and Conn, from whom the facts in some of 
these passages relative to bacteria have been taken, and even in 
part, in a few cases, the wording itself, to some extent interspersed 
with my own. 

53 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Some, but by no means all, species of bacteria have the 
power of active movement, the study of which forms one of 
the most fascinating microscopic spectacles which exist. 
'The varied motion," says Frankland, "of the countless 
swarms of individuals following their sinuous paths across 
the field of the microscope, in all directions, and in the three 
dimensions of space, much after the fashion of a cloud of 
midges playing in the sunshine, produces an irresistible im- 
pression upon the observer, that each individual microbe 
is assisting in and conscientiously performing its part in a 
highly complex and thoroughly organized Scotch reel, con- 
ducted at express speed." This motion is supposed to be 
produced by flagella, which lash the liquid with great activ- 
ity and give the plants so strongly the effect of animals that 
it is almost impossible to believe what the authorities tell 
us of their being among the lowest forms of simple vege- 
table life similar to the oscillaria or green thread-like plants 
known to the botanists. 

Before studying the action of bacteria in their role as 
sanitarians and fertilizers of the soil, it is important to say 
a word as to their use in the arts. Many important indus- 
tries are now known to be absolutely dependent upon them 
as agents of fermentation and decomposition. Sometimes 
they split up the molecules of the substances upon which 
they act into simpler molecules and sometimes they build 
them up into more complex ones, in all cases changing their 
chemical natures, and thereby forming numerous useful 
products which could not exist without them. The world 
is only beginning to realize their tremendous usefulness in 
these ways. 

There are, in the first place, many industries which may 
be classified as maceration industries, or based on the de- 
composition powers of bacteria. Hardly any organic sub- 
stance is able to resist their softening influence, and man 

54 



Bacteria. 

has taken advantage of this power in many arts. Thus 
linen, jute, hemp, and other vegetable fibrous growths re- 
quire fermentation to free the valuable fibers from the 
woody parts with which they are associated in nature. 
Aided by moisture and the proper temperature the bac- 
teria soften the fibers and thereby permit of the separation 
of the useful from the useless parts. This so-called 
"retting" process is not allowed to continue long enough 
for the bacteria to injure materially the valuable fibers, but 
only long enough to facilitate their dissolution from the 
rest. 

The preparation of sponges for use is also accomplished 
by bacteria. They decompose the soft tissues constituting 
the body of this marine animal so that it can be removed 
by washing from the skeleton, which forms the sponge of 
commerce. Leather is prepared for the tannery by bac- 
teria. The hide with the hair on it is steeped in warm 
water until partial decomposition enables the hair to be 
easily removed with a knife. The manufacture of citric, 
lactic, butyric acid, vinegars, indigo, tobacco, opium and 
many other substances is accomplished by the aid of bac- 
teria in producing fermentation. In all of these processes 
a different species of bacterium does the work, the proper 
kind appearing, by some wonderful provision of nature, 
immediately when the proper conditions are provided for 
it. They seem to be ever on the alert to serve us, and 
hasten to the spot where needed and there multiply with 
marvelous rapidity until the number of workers required 
to accomplish the desired result in the best manner and 
shortest time possible has appeared. 

Butter and cheese making can only be accomplished by 
the aid of bacteria of various kinds, and it is probable that 
any desired flavor will be produced by the scientific dairy- 

55 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

man of the future by cultivating and introducing the spe- 
cial kinds of bacteria which experience teaches will yield 
the desired result. 

We come now to the species of bacteria most interesting 
to the sanitary engineer, to those which provide plants and 
animals with food during life and take care of them after 
death. Upon these all life on the globe is dependent and 
would cease if their labors were suspended for any consid- 
erable length of time. 

Plants and animals both require food, but while animals 
can live upon plants, plants are unable to obtain their en- 
tire nourishment directly from animals or other plants. 
Their elements must first be taken apart in order to pro- 
vide food simple enough for continuing their life, and 
these simple products must be restored to the earth, which 
would otherwise soon be exhausted of its plant food in- 
stead of remaining year after year for untold ages as fertil- 
izers. All this is done by bacteria. Moisture alone is not 
able to disintegrate the hard trunks of trees and the bodies 
of animals when they die. It could not soften their tissues 
and convert them to gases and elements suitable for plant 
food. Were it not for bacteria, which alone possess this 
power, the earth would soon be completely covered with 
dead bodies, leaving no possible room for further growth 
of plants and animals. This bacterial action is what is 
known as decay, and it is called "decomposition" when it 
takes place in the presence of oxygen, and "putrefaction" 
when oxygen is debarred. Sanitary engineers have just 
begun to learn the vast difference between these two forms 
of decay and to put their knowledge to practical use in 
their systems of sewerage and plumbing. They have learned 
that entirely different species of bacteria are employed in 
these two processes, and that upon their success in cultivating 
the one or the other depends the value of their efforts. 

56 



Bacteria. 

Fig. 29 shows the cycle of life and the part played therein 
by the different kinds of bacteria. 

At the bottom of the circle is mother earth. It contains 
some of the principal ingredients which form the food of 
plants, and above all compounds of nitrogen called nitrates. 
Carbon dioxid and water are also required by plants and 
these are obtained partly from air. Other compounds in 
the soil which plants use are salts of potassium, phosphorus 
and some other elements, but these are here omitted for 
simplicity as of less importance in this connection. 

The roots of the plants shown on the earth at the left 
take up the nitrates from the soil, and their leaves absorb 
the gases from the air, and with the energy furnished by 
the sun's rays build these simple compounds into more 
complex ones shown in the circle above the plants as the 
second step. They are sugar, starches and fats, forming 
the complex food required by the animal kingdom, indi- 
cated by the figures of a man and a horse at the top of the 
cycle. Some parts of these foods are at once decomposed by 
the animals and given back to the air from their lungs and 
pores in the form of carbonic acid and water, and we have 
shown these in our picture by dotted lines returning at 
once again to the plants at the bottom. But this quick 
return does not occur with the nitrogenous foods. These 
require further treatment and must continue around the 
circle of changes, forever repeated in nature's great labor- 
atory. Animals build these nitrogenous foods into new 
albumens, reducing part directly into urea, which is ex- 
creted. But a plant can neither feed directly either upon 
the nitrogen compounds stored in the bodies of the animals 
nor upon those which are thrown off by them during life. 
It cannot feed upon the flesh, fat, bones nor excreta which 



*I am indebted to Prof. Conn for the idea of representing 
Nature's food cycle graphically, but the special design is my own. 

57 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

constitute the products of animal life as shown in our pic- 
ture at the right of the animals. They must be reduced to 
simpler forms, and the third step in the food cycle is taken 
by the decomposition bacteria. The animals have died, 
as we see, and the bacteria are already engaged in their 
work as scavengers. Our drawing shows, at each step, the 
particular form of bacterium actually found at work at that 
stage, and copied from life, as revealed by the microscope, 
and in the four outer corners we have reproduced photo- 
graphs of the four principal types of bacteria most inter- 
esting to us in this connection as sanitary engineers. You 
see, therefore, thrown upon the screen, individual mem- 
bers of this valuable community as they actually appeared 
while engaged in their great work of food preparation and 
sanitation. Only they are here magnified by the electric 
rays to several hundred thousand times their real dimen- 
sions. They are our great little co-workers, the faithful 
engineer's assistants, the patient, industrious, eager, non- 
complaining plumber's helpers. We may take a lesson from 
these helpers in their unceasing, ever-cheerful toil. 

u Ever at toil," they bring "to lovliness 
All ancient wrath and wreck." 

These organisms exist in the air, soil and water, always 
on the alert for any organic substance requiring their pres- 
ence, and no sooner is it provided, instantly, as if by magic 
they appear and begin to break it up for plant food ! A 
portion of these cleavage products takes the form of car- 
bonic acid gas and water, which are dissipated in the air 
and return at once, as shown by the dotted lines, to the 
plant. But the other portion, containing nitrogen, is broken 
up into ammonia, N K 3 , or into compounds called nitrites. 
But these are too simple for plant food. The chemical 
destruction by this particular detachment of helpers has 

58 



Bacteria. 



1 


m 










' ?' t <M 



59 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

too thorough, and another gang of workmen must be em- 
ployed to complete the process begun by the first before the 
food is quite ready for the plants. 

We come now to the species of microorganisms which, 
for us sanitarians, is perhaps the most interesting and im- 
portant of all — the bacteria of nitrification. They exist 
everywhere, especially in fertile soil, and they are so very 
valuable and commendable that I have induced a few of 
them to sit for their photographs for this occasion. They 
appear at the right of the circle and are nearly spherical in 
shape. These bacteria, by further oxidizing the nitrites and 
ammonia, prepare the food finally for the plants, and form 
the last link in the chain that binds the animal to the vege- 
table kingdom, for the nitrates and nitric acid which they 
form are left in the soil where they can be seized upon by 
the roots of the plants and then begin again their journey 
around the food cycle. 

Thus the nitrifying bacteria perform the great final func- 
tion of waste disposal and sewage purification by both re- 
moving the matters in decomposition without offense or 
danger and providing the means for new life at the same 
time. They differ therefore entirely from the bacteria of 
putrefaction, which create products not only dangerous and 
offensive but incapable of supporting new life. 

In our food cycle some of the processes of decomposition 
throw off a portion of the nitrogenous matter into the air in 
the form of free nitrogen, and this is out of the reach of 
plants, because plants do not possess the power alone of ex- 
tracting free nitrogen from the air. Hence unless the plants 
can obtain some external aid in reaching this nitrogen it will 
be gradually exhausted by dissipation in the atmosphere, 
and life upon the earth become gradually extinct. But here 
again we have found, within the last few years, that we can 
again count upon our busy friends, the bacteria, only in this 

60 



Bacteria. 

case there are two distinct species operating in concert in 
our service. They act in at least two different ways in re- 
claiming from the atmosphere more or less of this dissipated 
nitrogen ; first by cooperating with each other, one kind 
turning the ammonia into nitrous acid, and the other kind 
the nitrous acid produced by the first into nitric acid, and 
second, by cooperating with some of the higher plants be- 
longing to the great family of legumes, including the pea, 
bean and clover plants. The bacteria which thus combine 
with these legumes in collecting the nitrogen are shown in 
the lower right hand corner of our circle, and the legumes 
themselves are seen growing in the earth below them. The 
bacteria form in colonies or nodules on the roots of the le- 
gumes as shown, and here in this humble position, perform 
unseen the marvelous and all-important function we have 
described. 

The explosion of gunpowder, nitroglycerine, dynamite 
and other compounds of saltpetre also dissipates free nitro- 
gen in the air, though saltpetre itself is a good food for 
plants. 

So while hostile armies of human beings meet on the field 
of battle and waste nitrogen by blowing one another to 
pieces with gunpowder in the service of Mammon, the more 
humane and thrifty armies of bacteria run to the field to 
take care of the dead and gather up again the valuable nitro- 
gen squandered by men, and the poor farmers spend their 
meager earnings buying nitrogenous fertilizers to take its 
place. 

Thus our food cycle is complete. Beginning with the ni- 
trates in the soil, the food matter circulates from soil to 
plant, from plant to animal, from animal to bacterium, and 
from bacterium through other bacteria back to the soil, and 
so on again in a never ceasing circulation. 

Disease germs play a comparatively unimportant part 

61 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

among the bacteria, and might be stamped out altogether 
were men only half as alive to their own best interests as are 
the bacteria themselves. Nevertheless I have shown them in 
the cycle in the upper left hand corner as one of the agents 
of the death of animals. The germs in the circle showing 
flagella are the bacilli of typhoid fever. Those in the photo- 
graph at this corner were found in the blood of a yellow- 
fever patient. Disease germs secrete, during their growth, 
poisons which have been separated and studied, some of 
them being the most virulent of which we have any knowl- 
edge. These poisons produce the violent symptoms of the 
disease. 

The bacteria shown in the circle under the typhoid bacilli 
are the kind which produce pleasant flavors in butter and are 
used commercially for the ripening of cream, but they 
closely resemble many species active with the products of 
plant life. The other three corner photographs were chosen 
simply because they represent germs having forms similar 
to those in our circle, the two lower coming from potatoes 
in different stages of decomposition. 

Even in the first formation of the soil we are dependent 
upon bacteria. Soil is partly produced by the weathering or 
crumbling of rocks into powder, which is partly a physical 
action, but which appears also to be partly due to acid secre- 
tions of bacteria which soften the rocks so that the physical 
agencies work upon them more rapidly. The soil also con- 
tains certain sulphates, phosphates and silicates which are 
deposited by the aid of bacterial action. But the more im- 
portant element of soil fertility lies in its nitrogen com- 
pounds which are supplied partly as already explained by 
bacteria acting together or with legumes, and partly by the 
action of bacteria on fertilizers applied to the soil. The 
manure is not suitable as plant food until its highly com- 
plex compounds of nitrogen are reduced by bacteria to its 

62 



Bacteria. 

simpler forms. This is done with the aid of oxygen. Science 
is teaching us how to avoid waste of sewage material as fer- 
tilizers, by aiding the bacteria through special chemicals in 
their work of restoring nitrates and salts of ammonia to the 
soil. These chemicals reduce to useful salts the free am- 
monia, nitrogen and nitrites the bacteria produce and thus 
aid in preventing their dissipation in the air. Hence it is 
that the problem of the sanitary engineer, so far as it con- 
cerns the fertilization of the soil, appears to resolve itself 
into a proper handling of bacteria. 

In the early periods of the world's history and in thinly 
populated districts, waste matters could be simply spread 
over the ground with comparatively little danger to the 
health. Air and bacteria had plenty of room in which to do 
their work unaided by art. Where it was spread about fa- 
vorite trees or over the lawn intermittently and in modest 
quantity the result was entirely satisfactory, so much so in- 
deed, that this method is the one modified only by being car- 
ried out on a larger scale, which modern science is leading 
us back to, as the best for entire cities. But as people began 
to crowd together in towns and cities, and land surface be- 
came more and more limited, refuse began to be buried un- 
derground in cesspools, and the dangers coming from putre- 
faction developed and increased with the growth of the com- 
munities until the need of scientific treatment was realized 
and the sanitary engineer and plumber were born. Unfor- 
tunately the leaching cesspool with all its noisome horrors 
is still the favorite monstrosity of many towns and villages, 
their most approved location being within friendly reach of 
the family well. The ground between becoming more and 
more charged with filth until the "old oaken bucket'' draws 
disease and the doctor as well as sparkling water into the 
house. Col. Waring gives these two rules as the cardinal 
principles of modern sewerage. "Organic wastes must be 

63 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

discharged at the sewer outlet in their fresh condition — be- 
fore putrefaction has set in;" and (2) "They must be re- 
duced to a state of complete oxidation without the interven- 
tion of dangerous or offensive decomposition." 

Sewage consists of all the water-borne refuse of a com- 
munity, its most important elements from the sanitarian's 
standpoint consisting of the wastes of the kitchen and pan- 
try sinks and water closets. These matters once in the sew- 
ers become after a very short time substantially the same in 
appearance, odor and composition, and must receive sub- 
stantially the same care, precautions and treatment. Both 
consist mainly of organic food matter, only in one case it 
has been eaten and digested and in the other case it has not. 
It averages in proper sewerage systems about one part in a 
thousand of water, and the object of sewage purification is 
to detach and render harmless that one part of organic ma- 
terial as economically as possible and leave the effluent wa- 
ter pure. The contents of water closets, may, it is true, have 
the distinction of containing at times certain specific disease 
germs, but these germs can only live for a time and may be 
found in any household waste water. The Liernur system 
of sewerage is based on separating water closet from other 
wastes by means of a separate pipe system, but nothing is 
gained by attempting this. Infected refuse should, if pos- 
sible, be burned or all pathogenic germs in it destroyed by 
disinfection in the sick room, where they are produced, 
before being discharged into other sewage. But the main 
thing which the science of biology has taught us as sanitary 
engineers, is that the bacteria of putrefaction are to be 
everywhere avoided as producing offensive products in- 
jurious to the health both of man and animals on land .and 
of fish in the sea, and that the bacteria of quick decomposi- 
tion and nitrification are to be cultivated as reducing sewage 
to useful materials absolutely without danger or offense o! 

64 



Bacteria. 

any kind. It is found that the latter bacteria and the en- 
vironment of fresh air, in which they flourish, are the ene- 
mies of those of putrefaction and disease and that they will 
destroy them when arrayed against them in sufficient force. 

A consideration of the different methods of sewage dis- 
posal which are the result of modern sanitary science will 
form the subject of another lecture, our purpose for the 
present merely being to show why it is essential to avoid 
everywhere seats of putrefaction, cesspools and fermenting 
chambers of every description large or small and hurry the 
sewage away as rapidly as possible in order that it may be 
delivered in a fresh state to places where the friendly bac- 
teria may dispose of it to the best advantage. 

It may seem, at first thought, a trifling matter to insist 
upon the abandonment of such small cesspools as pan closet 
receivers, grease traps, pot traps and small unscoured dead 
ends of every kind in our sewerage and plumbing systems, 
but when we remember that in large cities and towns these 
little cesspools must be multiplied by thousands or hun- 
dreds of thousands, we see that the aggregate of putrefaction 
generated in them all when emptied into the sewers, gives 
to our enemies, the dangerous class of bacteria, a very con- 
siderable equipment for harm, and enables them to resist 
far longer the friendly battalions of our allies. 



65 



CHAPTER IV. 
Sewer Air. 

BEFORE taking up my 
subject where we left 
off" at our last lecture 
we will look at a 
picture illustrating 
two systems of plumb- 
ing as radically dif- 
ferent from each 
other as any two 
things can be (Figs. 
32 and 33.) The 
first, Fig. 32, repre- 
sents the waste sys- 
tem of a small apart- 
ment house of three 
flats and gives, in ad- 
dition, to two sepa- 
rate stacks of soil 
pipes, also a set of 
"back-vent" pipes as 
generally recom- 
mended by many 
plumbers today. There is also a separate rain-water stack, 
a main house trap with its special ventilating stack, similar- 
ly approved. Besides these many advise a special stack for 
local vent, as well as a drip pipe from the principal fix- 
tures. Finally in some localities an exterior sewer vent pipe 
is called for by the sewer department. 

All of these except the sewer vent I have introduced in 

66 




Fig 



Simplicity with Security. 



Sewer Air. 



the same figure in order to present what many would con- 
sider an absolutely perfect outfit. It is copied from a draw- 
ing presented as a "model" by one of the leading plumbers 
in the country, except that I have added, as a finishing 
touch, the drip pipe frequently recommended for extra fine 




Complicated 



Fig. 32. 
inib.ug, showing the modern tendency 



work. An exterior sewer vent to the roof should also be 
added where the disconnecting trap is used. 

In Fig- 33 * have treated precisely the same fixtures in a 
somewhat simpler manner. 

Now I have no doubt many of you have wondered 

67 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

why it was necessary to administer quite so powerful a dose 
of bacteria in a modest course on house plumbing. But if I 
show you presently that it is precisely the discoveries made 
upon these very marvelous organisms within the last two or 




Figr. 33. 
Simpler and better plumbing wbich should be substituted 
for the complicated system. 

three years which have justified our declaring the simpler of 

these systems to be by far the safer and better of the two, 

you will not, I am sure, regret the time we have spent upon 

them. 

68 



Sewer Air. 

If it has been shown that the air of sewers does not swarm 
with disease germs, as has hitherto been supposed, and is 
freer from all forms of bacteria than the outer air above 
them, and that, in well ventilated sewers, this air is en- 
tirely innocuous, then, clearly, the disconnecting trap and 
its vent become useless, and should be omitted, so that the 
soil pipe may serve as an additional means of ventilating 
the sewers. 

If, finally, it has been proven that, in connection with such 
a sewer, a sound and permanent water seal is a reliable bar- 
rier to the passage of odors and micro-organisms of any 
kind through the traps of fixtures, and that such a seal can 
now practically be obtained by a correct form of the seal 
alone, then, clearly, back venting becomes a back number, 
and the soil pipe can also be used as a rain water conductor, 
flushing itself. 

I am perfectly aware that to sustain this very heretical 
position to your satisfaction, the proofs I bring forward 
must be unanswerable and very clearly presented.* The 
claim is a very vital and important one destroying, as it 
does, with a single sweep, a vast network of piping, which 
has been for a long time regarded as a necessity beyond all 
question. Therefore I shall make no excuse for treating the 
matter somewhat methodically and thoroughly, and shall 
endeavor to array the proofs in such order as will render 
them most easily intelligible. It is for this reason that we 
have in our first lecture investigated to some little extent the 
habits of some of the microscopic world of bacteria. 

The next thing we must do is to become scientifically ac- 
quainted with sewer air ; and in the next illustration I shall 



♦This position was considered more heretical in 1899 — at the 
time these lectures were delivered, a time when trap venting- was 
almost universal, and even defended by a few engineers of some 
repute — than today, when cities and towns are rather rapidly aban- 
doning the back-venting of traps, the use of the main or disconnect- 
ing trap and other old superstitions. 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

show you pictures of two kinds of sewer air, one the kind 
you find in well-constructed and thoroughly ventilated sew- 
ers, the other, however, residing chiefly in the imagination 
of the public and supposed to contain deadly poisons and all 
sorts of disease germs. The last is the kind plumbers seem 
to have in their minds when they erect in the houses of their 
wretchedly abused clients those formidable barricades of 
pipes shown in Fig. 2. 

The first drawing, Fig. 34, illustrates a well built stone 
sewer of a modern city, and is very similar to one of the 





Fig. 34. Paris sewer. 



Fig. 35. Samples of disease germs 

supposed to exist in an 

unventilated sewer. 



large sewers of Paris which I inspected in 1871. This sewer 
was so clean and well ventilated that it was not only much 
freer from germs than the street above it, but it was even 
without any offensive odor, so much so indeed that hundreds 
of people, both ladies and gentlemen visit them annually, as 
one of the particularly attractive sights of the metropolis. 
Compared with some of the filthy ones in our great cities, 
this sewer is a veritable health resort. 

I made the trip just as you see presented in the picture. 
The truck in which we rode was propelled by the water it- 
self, containing in this case, perhaps, one part of sewage to 



70 



Sewer Air. 

2,000 parts of water. It had a sliding gate descending from 
the rear of the car into the sewage against which the stream 
pressed, the car wheels running on the sidewalks on each 
side. We found the place quite as sweet and clean, quite as 
light, and quite as quiet as our famous Boston "Subway" 
and we were not once "held up" during the entire trip by 
pathogenic bacilli, either singly or in gangs, as some of the 
ladies evidently expected to be. I have drawn more "win- 
dows" in the sewer than there really were, because they 
should have been there, and in the future undoubtedly will 
be. The walls should be lined with white enameled bricks or 
tiles. Properly ventilated it would be. the best place to carry 
gas, light, water and other pipes and wires. 

The other picture, Fig. 35, is a correct drawing of a sewer 
built in an uncomfortable place described by Bunyan in his 
"Pilgrim's Progress," and contains a great many germs of 
an exceedingly ferocious disposition, and is described by 
Bunyan as the place to which all those plumbers are con- 
signed who have, during their lifetimes, imposed upon a 
confiding public a larger number of waste pipes (called by 
Bunyan "wasted" pipes) than the conditions actually re- 
quire. 

By sewer air is meant the air of drainage systems, and 
consists in a mixture of air with vapor and a number of 
gases of the decomposition of sewage in varying proportions 
according to the system of waste disposal employed, to- 
gether with floating solid matters, and a small number of 
bacteria. 

The most important of these gases of decomposition are 
carbon dioxid, carbon monoxid, ammonia, sulphuretted hy- 
drogen, carbonate of ammonia, ammonium sulphide, methyl 
sulphide, and a number of volatile organic compounds, 
which, though they give sewer-air its peculiar odor, are 
present in too small quantities for accui ate chemical deter- 

71 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

mination. Average sewer air in properly constructed sew- 
erage systems contains a less number of micro-organisms 
than the external air of cities, and far less than the air of 
crowded rooms, because these organisms, being "particu- 
late" are retained by the water and damp surfaces of the 
sewers when they come in contact with them. According 
to the careful and elaborate experiments on the comparative 
bacteria of sewer air and sewage itself in the sewers of 
Laws and Andrewes* made for the London County Coun- 
cil, and of numerous other investigators whose testimony 
we shall quote, it has been found that the microorganisms 
in the air are totally unlike those in the liquid below it, 
whereas they do correspond with the organisms in the air 
outside of the sewers. 

The air of sewers contains less oxygen than exterior air, 
because some of it combines with carbon in converting the 
sewage into carbon dioxid. 

I shall use the term "sewer gas" to designate the air of 
cesspools and foul sewers, as distinguished from, the air of 
modern well-constructed and well ventilated sewers. More 
correctly speaking it should designate the actual gases of de- 
composition before it is mixed with pure air at all. 

Of the chemical constituents of the air of sewers, more or 
less diluted with normal air, carbon dioxidf is the gas 
usually found in the largest volume, and is the invariable 
product of all organic decomposition. It is the "choke 
damp" of coal mines, and is fatal when inhaled in a highly 
concentrated form. Being heavier than air, it tends to fall to 
the ground and remain in the sewers rather than rise from 
them into the house, unless a strong current induced by 
heat or other agency raises it. In well-ventilated sewers this 



*J. Parry Laws and F. W. Andrewes, London County Council 
Reports, No. 216, 1895. 

fCarbonic acid of the older chemistry. 

72 



Sewer Air. 

gas is incapable of producing the ordinary phenomena of 
so-called "sewer-gas" poisoning. 

The weight of this carbon dioxid is clearly shown by 
the simple experiment of blowing cigarette smoke into a 
glass tube and observing the manner in which it settles to 
the bottom of the tube, the exhaled air being largely com- 
posed of this gas. 

Carbon monoxid* is present in sewers only in exceedingly 
minute quantities, and even then it is generally due to the 
leakage of illuminating gas into them. 

Nitrogen, found in sewer air, is incapable of supporting 
life when uncombined with oxygen, but it is not known to 
possess any poisonous properties, and in fact its amount in 
sewers varies little from that in ordinary air. 

Sulphuretted hydrogen is a poison when imbibed in no 
stronger mixture with air than one part in 250, but its odor 
is so powerful and disgusting that its presence in very small 
quantities would be insufferable, and it is not found in well 
ventilated sewers in quantity as great as in an ordinary lab- 
oratory where the gas is generated without injury to the 
operators. Indeed, as Baylies says, a laboratory would not 
smell natural without it, and yet chemists constantly 
breathing it, have not been found to suffer any more from 
typhoid and gastric fevers, cholera, diarrahea, general de- 
bility or any other of the derangements supposed to be due 
to the inhalation of sewer air, than those who never enter a 
laboratory. 

"Students of analytical chemistry have been made sick by 
inhaling sulphuretted hydrogen, but not seriously, and yet a 
house in which the smell of this gas was as strong as it 
usually is in many laboratories at any hour of the day or 
night, would be considered untenable." 

As for ammonia, it may be inhaled in doses far stronger 



'Carbonic or carbonous oxid according to the older terminology. 
73 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

than it ever occurs in properly constructed and ventilated 
sewers, not only without injury, but if we may judge from 
the fondness shown by ladies for the smelling salts bottle, 
with very positive benefit. 

Therefore the dangerous element in sewer air must be 
sought in what is called organic vapor, which is an indefinite 
name for something of which no definite knowledge has so 
far been attained. The very recent researches of Dr. Alessif 
corroborate this conclusion. 

In spite of the very general testimony of modern author- 
ities as to the reality of the dangers of breathing certain 
kinds of sewer-air in confined places, there have been mis- 
believers who have characterized the wide-spread fear of 
sewer-gas as groundless panic, and the records of the great 
epidemics as mere sensational stories. Therefore it is nec- 
essary to follow and fully understand the recent very im- 
portant investigations and discoveries of scientists in this 
domain, not only as an aid to personal security, but also 
because they have a very important bearing upon the 
methods of sewerage and plumbing, which should be adopt- 
ed to conform to the new light they have shed. 

It was very natural that, before the science of bacteriology 
had enlightened us, sewer-gas should be regarded with a 
very great and vague terror as of an unknown enemy await- 
ing us in the dark. 

So we find exaggerated fears on the one hand and a 
false sense of security on the other, both based on an ignor- 
ance of the nature of sewer-gas, and of the proper method 
of dealing with it. 

On the part of the terrorists it was common to hear the 
air of even well ventilated sewers described as a form of 
concentrated pestilence laid on our houses with the soil pipe 



tG. Alessi "On Putrid Gases as Predisposing Causes of Typhoid 
Fever Infection," Journal of the Sanitary Institute, London, 1895 

74 



Sewer Air. 

connections as one would connect a fuse to explode a 
mine. Doctors and sanitarians seemed to vie with one an- 
other in arousing the greatest possible amount of alarm. A 
physician quotes a professor of hygiene as saying, "Sewer- 
gas is so subtle that its presence is many times not de- 
tected, and yet so laden with the germs of disease that 
diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid fever, and other fatal 
maladies are the sure event to those who dwell in such air- 
poisoned houses." Indeed, it might almost be said that about 
every disease or indisposition to be found in the medical 
calendar has been at one time or another attributed to 
sewer-gas poisoning. 

On the other hand, the scoffers pointed to the experi- 
ments of Carmichael, Wernich, Miquel and others, and de- 
clared that disease germs could no. more escape from sew- 
age than a sausage could jump out of a kettle of water, and 
that the fear of sewer-air was altogether irrational. The 
plumber, they said, is a sufficient refutation of "their 
notions," for he works at the very jaws of the sewers and 
flourishes on their breath. They seemed to ignore the fact 
that plumbers do suffer, when exposed to foul gases, and 
that the most prudent of them take the precaution to keep 
the "jaws of the sewers" well gagged while they are at work 
upon them. It is their custom to complete the plumbing 
work before the sewer connection is made, so that sewer-gas 
is not allowed to play about the building with such unre- 
strained license as many seem to imagine. But, as com- 
pared with workers in other trades and professions, plumb- 
ers lead an out-of-door life largely in buildings but partly 
completed or closed in, and must be in the full vigor of 
youth to carry on to the best advantage their somewhat 
arduous calling, and the experiments of Alessi show that 
the system undoubtedly becomes inured to some extent to 
inhaling the products of decomposition. 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

These factors enable them to withstand the enervating 
effects of exposure to sewer-air better than others, and so 
far as the pathogenic bacteria are concerned, it is in the 
feeble body, debilitated by confinement and impure air that 
they make most headway when once they gain entrance, 
against the armies of the white corpuscles or "Leuco- 
phytes" with which nature has so wonderfully provided us 
as a body guard. 

But Dr. F. L. Dibble,* of Philadelphia, has made the 
most vigorous protest against the reign of sewer-gas terror 
in his "Vagaries of Sanitary Science." His writings, how- 
ever, like those of his more violent adversaries, were pub- 
lished more than fifteen years ago when his peculiar deduc- 
tions were more excusable than they would be today. He 
writes as follows: "It was soon after 1850 when the gases 
of the sewers first began to be talked about ; but it was 
not until about the year 1857 that it was decided, not by 
chemical experiment or by any other investigation, but by 
a whim of the sanitarians, that there should be a distinct 
substance known as sewer-gas. 

"The most discordant and contradictory properties were 
at once imputed to it. Sometimes its gravity caused it to 
descend into the bowels of the earth ; again, by its surpass- 
ing levity, is ascended to heaven. Its powers of lateral dif- 
fusion were illimitable ; it would permeate masonary eight 
feet thick ; its backward pressure was enormous ; then, un- 
like other gases, instead of finding vent at the manholes and 
large openings of the sewers, it had such affinity for the 
human system, to poison and destroy it, that it remained 
pent up until it could find egress through some crack or 
pin-hole, and escape into our dwellings. Sometimes it 
had a vile odor; again it had a faint, mawkish smell, 
but the climax of danger was reached when it was odorless, 



♦"Vagaries of Sanitary Science. 

76 



Sewer Air. 

'Poisoning by sewer-gas/ says the London Lancet of 1882, 
in condemnation of the water carriage system, 'which has 
no smell, is the cause of many maladies. We take the 
rattle off the tail of the snake that he may better bite us 
with impunity. Better let the atmosphere of a house be 
nauseating from the fumes of recent faeces or pestilential 
from the fumes of a cesspool than poison its inhabitants 
with the demon sewer-gas skilfully laid on by a system of 
closed drains.' Ventilating them by gratings in the street 
'is Machiavelian in its refinement of folly and wicked- 
ness.' " 

The doctor has also a kind word for the plumber of that 

day, of whom he wrote : "This guide, philosopher and 

friend proceeded without delay to fabricate and set traps 

for us, which he said would shield us from the deadly vapor. 

He had no sooner put one in than it was shown that the 

gas was generated in such quantities in the sewer that it 

was forced past the trap. The next one he placed went 

through that inscrutable process of 'siphoning out,' and 

we were worse off than if we had no traps at all. We must 

now ventilate them ; when this was done, the joints began 

to leak, and he said the materials of the pipes were so weak 

that it could not stand the peppermint test ; and in some 

way that future improvisation alone would explain, it was 

proclaimed that sewer-gas escaping from a pin-hole would 

cause disease much more surely than if it were passing 

out in volumes a foot in diameter. There was no safety but 

tearing out all of the old fixtures and replacing them with 

new ones. After their renewal we were no better off, for 

not a day passed that the sanitary dervishes did not relate 

the poisoning of whole families by sewer-gas." 

This makes entertaining reading, but we know now that 
the mistake the doctor made was in failing to distinguish 
between what was dangerous and what was not. His dia- 

77 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

tribes, however, were useful in instigating more careful 
study of the facts, though he was entirely justified in his 
strictures on the increasing complication of plumbing and 
on the back venting of traps. 

These disputes among the sanitarians might have been 
avoided if they had defined the kind of sewer-air they were 
discussing. If one side had reference to the air of such 
sewers as the underground sanitariums of Paris, I have 
shown you, with their aquatic pleasure parties, and the 
other had in mind the mephitic gases of horribly foul cess- 
pools, their discussions must necessarily be interminable. 

The very discussions, however, gave rise to eager in- 
quiries for statistics and closer observations on the part 
of scientists, so that now we have a long record of observed 
cases of injury to the health of persons exposed to sewer- 
gas of various kinds. 

These statistics can be read by the layman as well as 
by the physician, and one of the best and most interesting 
reviews of them has been made by a civil engineer, Mr. 
Roechling.* Indeed the physicians and scientists lack often 
the time to master the applications of their own researches 
and discoveries to sanitary engineering and plumbing. Thus 
one of the most recent works on sanitation and hygiene 
written by a physician devotes a chapter to plumbing and 
sewerage which contains many errors in design and prin- 
ciple. His instruction, for instance, that every soil pipe 
branch serving two or more water closets should be ex- 
tended up above the highest fixture in the house or above 
the roof, would please the pipe dealer, but tend to bankrupt 
the average owner, besides adding immeasurably to the 
complication and leakage possibilities, especially in large 
houses and hotels. His rule should have been worded 



* "Sewer Gas and Its Influence Upon Health," by H. Alfred 
Roechling, C. E. Biggs & Co., London, 1899. 

78 



Sewer Air. 

''every stack of soil pipe should be extended up through 
the roof." To extend also every branch to the roof 
would add complication even the most rugged pipe 
dealer would hardly dare to advocate. In a cut intro- 
duced to illustrate good plumbing, many undesirable things 
are shown, some merely slight errors in drawing, as where 
a trap is shown without any seal, and other errors in prin- 
ciple, as where fixtures discharge into vent pipes, where 
branch pipes enter the soil pipe with T instead of Y joints, 
and where very small vent pipes are carried up great lengths 





Fig. 36. D Trap set on its side. Fig. 37. Vented S Trap. 

above the highest fixture and through the roof, instead of 
joining the soil pipe just above the highest fixture whereby 
both unnecessary expense and complication, as well as 
danger from closure by frost and snow would have been 
partially avoided. 

Another drawing shows a D trap, Fig. 36, placed in a 
manner quite novel in plumbing practice. But the most 
important inaccuracy is that, whereas in the D trap, accu- 
mulations of grease and dirt are shown in ample quantity 
in the unscoured parts, the vent opening of the S trap 
adjoining the D is shown entirely free from deposit. 

Now this vent opening, being entirely outside of the 
waterway of the trap, must receive even less scour than the 
comparatively innocent corner of the D trap. By what 
miraculous intervention of Providence then, has this vent 



79 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

mouth cavity escaped contamination when the D trap cor- 
ner has been packed solid full? What friendly influence, 
too, has protected the cavity at the right side of the D and 
neglected the left side? As a matter of fact the mouth 
of the vent pipe will clog even easier than the unscoured 
portions of the D or pot trap because as long as warm, 
fatty vapors rise in the vent pipe, they will deposit and 
congeal more or less grease along its cool sides at varying 
distances above the mouth, thus adding to the desposits 
caused by splashing and liquid contact. In short the mouth 
of the vent pipe forms an unscoured "pocket" quite as 
dangerous as any of those other pockets, now universally 
condemned, which constitute the one great characteristic 
defective feature of all "cesspool" traps. 

If the D or any other form of cesspool 
trap actually clogs at times as the doctor 
rightly says it does, and the passageway 
through it gradually approximates the form 
of the S trap, as shown in Fig. 37, then 
fik 11 evidently the vent pipe mouth at the top of 
|R^ ^U / the cesspool trap will be shut off by this 
W$g same deposit, and whether the S trap be 
Fig 38. vented constructed of grease or of lead its vent 

UnUnted m s n TraS. m0Uth wil1 be simil aHy closed. 

I think anyone making a full and careful study of the 
records now obtainable of the effects of breathing sewer- 
air must come to a conclusion somewhat as follows : The 
danger from inhaling sewer-gas is in proportion to its con- 
centration and poisonous composition. Where cesspools 
or very foul and ill-ventilated sewers are used, as is fre- 
quently the case in unprogressive, badly administered and 
ignorant communities, and very frequently in small towns 
and villages, the dangers may be very serious and con- 

80 



Sewer Air. 

stant, while where a well-ventilated and well-constructed 
sewerage system has been provided, as in the best admin- 
istered large cities, the danger is comparatively small. 

Nevertheless decomposing organic matter accumulates 
more or less along the soil and drain pipes of houses as 
they are usually constructed, even in the best sewered cities, 
and the products of such decomposition, if continuously 
breathed, in somewhat concentrated form, tend to produce 
a general impairment of the health predisposing the system 
to typhoid fever, and probably also to other infection, and 
lowering the vital forces of resistance to any form of 
specific disease. 

As a preliminary to a better understanding of the sub- 
ject it should be borne in mind that normal atmospheric 
air contains on an average, in 10,000 volumes, only about 
three volumes of carbonic acid, the oxygen and nitrogen 
standing in the relation of 2,090 to 7,910. If the carbonic 
acid increases to the amount of 50 to 100 volumes in the 
10,000, it becomes fatal to human life, and with sulphuretted 
hydrogen 10 to 12 volumes in 10,000 becomes fatal. Yet 
these amounts are constantly exceeded in unventilated cess- 
pools and foul sewers. 

A choked sewer of Paris was found by Clanbry to con- 
tain 201 volumes of carbonic acid, and 299 volumes bul- 
phuretted hydrogen in 10,000 volumes of air. 

In another case he found 340 volumes of carbonic acid 
and 125 of sulphuretted hydrogen in a Paris sewer, and an 
average of 230 of carbonic acid and 81 of sulphuretted 
hydrogen in 19 cases. 

Letheby found 53.2 volumes of carbonic acid in a Lon- 
don sewer; Miller an average of 10.6 in 18 cases and of 
30.7 in 6 cases in London; Beetz an average of 31.4 in 8 
Munich sewers ; Laws an average of 69.2 in three London 

81 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

sewers, and 93.1 in another London sewer, even as late as 
1892. 

Cesspools are likely to be as bad or worse. 

It goes without saying that the analysis of the air of 
most sewers of more recent date does not show such alarm- 
ing amounts of poisonous gases and they should not show 
any dangerous amount at all, but instances of the kind do 
still occur, and, in the case of cesspools, dangerous foulness 
is very common. 

Alessi says: "It is known that 18 cubic metres (yards 
approximately) of excremental matter can give out in 24 
hours about 18 cubic metres of gas, of which 10 cubic 
metres are of fatty acids and hydro-carbons ; from 5 to 6 
cubic metres are carbonic acid ; from 2 to 3 are of am- 
monia ; 20 litres (quarts) of sulphuretted hydrogen. These 
gases, considered separately, constitute for man and ani- 
mals the most poisonous substances, and their combination 
produces very rapid deleterious effects. " 

There is no excuse today, however, in the light of our 
knowledge of sewer and plumbing ventilation, for allowing 
these gases to accumulate in our sewers and drains in such 
concentration as to be injurious. Nevertheless foul cess- 
pools and sewers still exist in the less enlightened parts of 
the country, and a few words are needed relative to the 
danger of breathing the products of decomposition in con- 
centrated form. 

Dr. Hankel,* in recording cases of injury from breathing 
cesspool air, has classified the effects into, (1), the mild 
form; (2), the fairly severe form; (3), the severe form, 
and (4), the chronic form. The first, he says, is well 
known among sewer men, the symptoms being the feeling 
of a heavy load upon the head and chest, and in worse 



*Ern«t Hankel, "Ein Todesfall durch Einathmen von Cloaken- 
gas," 1895. 

82 



Sewer Air. 

cases, vomiting, severe pains in the abdomen, diarrohea, 
giddiness and weakness, with disturbance in the action of 
the heart and lungs. 

In the second form the skin becomes cold and covered 
with cold perspiration. Severe pains are felt in the stom- 
ach, throat and muscles. "Delirium, convulsive twitchings 
of the muscles, fainting fits, singing and talking, have fre- 
quently been observed at this stage." Then follow uncon- 
sciousness, convulsions, and other serious symptoms. 

In the third, or severe form, death occurs. The work- 
man, on entering the very foul cesspool "collapses all at 
once as if he had been struck by a bullet," the entrance 
being accompanied sometimes by severe convulsive fits, 
vomiting, foaming at the mouth, etc. 

The chronic form has been observed in laborers in mines 
and chemical works, and is not applicable to plumbing. 

Many cases have been reported, on good authority, of 
deaths through cesspool air poisoning of the severe form 
from very foul cesspools. They have occurred in places 
where the products of decomposition and putrefaction 
were in a highly concentrated state, and under circum- 
stances admitting of no doubt whatever as to their cause. 
They illustrate what may be termed the "direct" or 
"mephitic" (probably chemical) action of sewer gas, as 
distinguished from the "indirect" or "predisposing" action. 

In addition to these practically demonstrated cases, we 
have the records of a different class of accidents resulting 
in death, which must be accepted as caused directly or in- 
directly by cesspool air, not with the positive proof of the 
first, but with sufficient evidence to leave no doubt in the 
minds of the physicians reporting them, or of the courts in 
several cases where they formed the subject of lawsuits. 
They are, in a certain sense, more interesting than the 
others, because they occurred under conditions more com- 

83 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

mon, that is, under conditions in which the public as a 
whole are involved and not merely the comparatively small 
number who are obliged to work in the sewers. 

The accumulation from year to year of similar records 
brings the evidence closer and closer to the value of pos- 
itive demonstration, and at any rate it will be wise for the 
public to accept them as such inasmuch as they constitute 
the best proof to be obtained until individuals are found 
public spirited enough to voluntarily surrender themselves 
in the interest of science to such experimentation as has 
been made by Dr. Alessi* on animals. 

We come now to the other forms of sewer-gas poisoning 
designated by Hankel as the "mild" and the "fairly severe" 
forms. But before presenting a few of the recorded cases, 
it is important as a preparation for properly understand- 
ing them to review the recent researches of Dr. Alessi on 
the effect of sewer-gas in predisposing the system to spe- 
cial disease infection. His experiments were made upon 
animals of different kinds, and resulted in showing that 
after exposure to the influence of putrid gases, including 
sewer-gas, inoculation with the germs of certain diseases 
killed them, but that these germs failed to kill when the 
animals had been kept under normal condition. 

He took rats, guinea pigs and rabbits, and exposed some 
of them to sewer and other putrid gases. The rest he kept 
as a control experiment, under normal conditions, and after 
a while inoculated all of them with the baccillus of typhoid 
fever and the bacterium coli communis, and then he care- 
fully observed and recorded the results produced on both 
sets of animals, including microscopic examinations with 
cultures of their organs and blood. 

In a second set of experiments he studied "whether the 



*G. Alessi "On Putrid Gases as Predisposing Causes of Typhoid 
Fever," Journal of the Sanitary Institute," 1895. Vol. XVI, p. 487. 

84 



Sewer Air. 

chemical substances which are commonly given out in a 
state of gas from putrid fermentations can also exercise 
separately a similar influence on the animal organism." 

The experiments were conducted with so much care, 
thoroughness and precaution that they cannot fail to con- 
vince the reader of the correctness of his conclusions, which 
Dr. Alessi states as follows : 

"From my researches, taken together, I think I am au- 
thorized to conclude as follows: 

"i. The inspiration of putrid gases predisposes the ani- 
mals (rabbits, guinea pigs, rats) to the pathogenic action 
of even attenuated typhoid bacilli, and of bacterium coli. 

"2. This predisposition is due to the combination of 
gases given out by putrid fermentations, and not to any one 
separately. 

"3. It is probable that this experimental predisposition 
is diminished by prolonged breathing of the said gases. 

''These conclusions, then, serve to confirm what some 
authors had epidemiologically foreseen, and social hygiene 
had practically and painfully confirmed." 

The gases which, taken separately, were found not to 
predispose the animals to typhoid infection, were retilindol 
a very strong smelling product of putrefaction of al- 
buminous substances, ammonia, sulphuretted hydrogen, 
methyl sulphide, carbonic acid, carbonic oxide, and am- 
monium sulphide. "Not only," says Dr. Alessi, "did the 
gases taken separately, have no predisposing effect, but 
even some of therm when mixed, for which reason I may 
be allowed to suppose that both the exhalations arising 
from faecal and the exhalations arising from organic mat- 
ter in putrefaction, are not composed of simple mixtures, 
but are much more complicated than might be believed. 
And the predisposing cause might also have its seat in 
those fetid substances of neutral character, which it is im-* 

85 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

possible either to understand or determine, whether from 
their small quantity, the insufficiency of analytical methods, 
or from the imperfection of those which we have." 

Dr. Alessi experimented on 312 animals, of which 179 
were exposed to the sewer-gas and 133 were kept in fresh 
air. Of the exposed animals 143 died when inoculated with 
the bacteria ; whereas of the animals not exposed only three 
died, all of which were rats. 

He found that the animals acquired the predisposition 
to infection more easily during the first two weeks than 
after that time, which may explain in a certain degree why 
individuals who habitually breathe sewer-air become 
habituated to it and acquire a certain immunity from in- 
testinal and other infections. 

Sanitary engineers have frequently raised the question 
for discussion whether it will be best to seek security by 
perfecting our sewerage system to the extent of rendering 
the air within it as innocuous as the outer air, or whether 
we must, as it were, "bottle up" the sewers under the 
assumption that sewer-air must always be dangerous under 
any degree of dilution with pure air, or exposure to sun 
light, and direct our energies to confining sewer-gases to 
the sewers themselves, a course which must necessarily 
tend to vastly increase the expense and danger of house 
plumbing. 

It seems to me that difference of opinion on this sub- 
ject is unjustifiable in view of the data which scientists 
have now prepared for us. 

All sewers should be thoroughly ventilated and their air 
rendered entirely innocuous. House drains should aid in 
ventilating the sewers, the disconnecting or main house trap 
and all "back venting" should be rigidly prohibited by 
law, and the whole interior piping system be vastly sim- 
plified. 

86 



Sewer Air. 

I base my position, in part, on the recent researches and 
discoveries of a great many distinguished modern in- 
vestigators who are in accord in concluding that the num- 
ber of germs in sewer-air is small and less than in outside 
air ; that the bacteria found in sewer-air are not the same in 
kind as those found in the sewage itself, but are the same 
as those found in the air outside the sewers ; that dis- 
ease germs are and demonstrably must be rarely found 
in sewer-air and can live but a very short time in sewage 
itself ; that disease germs cannot detach themselves from 
the surface of water at rest, nor from the damp surfaces 
of sewers ; that bacteria in sewer-air, whether reaching the 
sewers from the external air or from the bursting of 
bubbles or drying of the sewage, tend to fall by gravity into 
the water of sewers or to be driven by air currents against 
moist surfaces in the sewers and drain pipes, from which 
they cannot again arise spontaneously ; that sewers can be and 
frequently are so well constructed and ventilated that the 
air within them becomes entirely innocuous ; and in part 
from my own investigations and conclusions. By taking 
advantage of modern discoveries and progress a simple sys- 
tem of house drainage without the disconnecting trap and 
back venting can be made perfectly safe whereas the com- 
plicated system now generally in vogue cannot be so made. 

Thus we find that plumbing has become a science based 
upon some of the most profound and delicate researches, 
in both the visible and the invisible world and that the 
arrangement of our piping is governed by the habits of 
the minutest living beings known to the microscope. 

The following conclusions referred to in our intro- 
ductory chapter have been practically accepted by all in- 
vestigators as demonstrated : 

(i) Dust and germs cannot rise from wet surfaces or 
from water or sewage 'under normal conditions. Abnormal 

87 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

conditions in sewers producing splashing and bubbling may 
in practice allow a few germs to escape into the air, but 
these conditions may be obviated by proper construction 
and regulation. 

(2) A sound water seal forms a reliable barrier against 
sewer-air and germs. 

(3) It is possible that germs may be lifted by air cur- 
rents in sewers from dried surfaces, but so strong a cur- 
rent appears to be required for this that in practice the 
number may be considered "as negligible from the point of 
view of the sanitarian. 

(4) Disease germs do not live long in sewage in com- 
petition with other germs. 

(5) Fewer germs of any kind are found in the air of 
sewers than in the outer air above them. 

(6) Disease germs may abound in the outer air, but in 
sewer-air their number is so small as to be negligible from 
a sanitary standpoint. 

From my own investigations and the above conceded 
facts I feel justified in drawing the following deductions: 

( 1 ) The back venting of traps destroys their seal by 
evaporation and renders them useless as barriers against 
sewer-air. 

(2) Splashing and bubbling in sewers may be prevented 
by proper construction and regulation. 

(3) The use of disconnecting traps shuts off the only 
effective method of sewer ventilation and forces foul 
sewer-air into the streets. 

(4) The best way to filter the air of cities and towns of 
dust and germs is to ventilate the, sewers through the house 
drains in which these impurities are caught and destroyed. 

(5) Permanently reliable pipe jointing is obtainable. 

88 



Sewer Air. 

(6) Hence all danger from sewe^air may now be 
avoided by such ventilation and the use of reliable traps 
and piping. 

It remains now to review, in brief detail, the investiga- 
tions of some of the highest authorities leading up to these 
conclusions, and my own experiments and reasoning from 
which they are deduced. 



89 



CHAPTER V. 

Investigations of Modern Scientists on 
The Question of the Passage of Gases and Germs 
Through Water Traps. 




Fig. 39. Appa- 
ratus for deter- 
mining whether 
bacteria can 
pass through 
water in traps. 



Dr. Carmichael's experiments were made 
to ascertain to what extent the contents of 
the soil pipe, both gases and germs, are able 
to pass through a sound water trap. 

Dr. Andrew Fergus had shown that con- 
centrated gases would pass through a water 
trap, and had had glass tubes bent in the 
form of a trap to show this. Ammonia 
was detected on the other side of the trap 
in 15 minutes, sulphuretted hydrogen in 
from 3 to 4 hours, and carbonic acid in \]/2 
hours. But the gases were presented to the under surface of 
the water in a very concentrated condition, probably not 
under 50 per cent. Dr. Carmichael wished to see what the 
result would be with ordinary sewer gas from a very foul 
soil pipe, both with gases and with germs, and he there- 
fore experimented on the trap of a pan closet, the kind 
generally used in Glasgow at the time. The conditions were 
as shown in Fig. 40. Two other pan closets entered the soil 
pipe, which was ventilated above the upper closet by a 2-in. 
pipe up to and through the roof. The lower end of the 
soil pipe passed untrapped and unventilated into the drain. 
The mouth of the sewer was submerged at high tide so 
that sewer gases tended to be pressed back toward the 
houses, so that as trying conditions as possible were pre- 
sented. 



90 



Sewer Gas. 

Dr. Carmiehael took off the basin and pan from the water- 
closet and screwed a zinc plate air-tight over the receiver, 
as shown. Through this plate passed two lead pipes with 
stopcocks extending about eight inches above the plate. 




Fig. 40. 



Apparatus for determining- if gases a^d germs from a 
foul soil pipe can pass through trap seals. 



The sewer air from the receiver was drawn bv an aspirator 
through six glass vessels of water arranged in a row, as 
shown. The air was introduced into the receiver from the 
room after having been washed by passing through the 
liquid in the single glass vessel at the left. The water in all 
the vessels was charged with a strong solution of caustic 
potash which is capable of absorbing carbonic acid, the first 
substance to be sought for in the sewer air. The aspiration 

91 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

was continued for twenty- four hours in each of a large num- 
ber of tests made for the gas. The average amount of car- 
bonic acid which passed through the trap seal in twenty- 
four hours was a little over 7 grains. 

For the ammonia testings sulphuric acid was used in the 
water of the seven vessels instead of potash. The amount 
of this gas which passed through the trap in 24 hours was 
1 -400th to i-20oth of a grain. The amount of sulphuretted 
hydrogen in the same time was about i-iooth of a grain. 

"These are the quantities," says Dr. Carmichael, "of the 
only sewage gases existing in the soil pipe, in estimable 
quantities, which pass through an ordinary water closet trap 
in 24 hours." 

The doctor made another series of tests with a new lead 
W. C. trap, as shown in Fig. 41, so as to make certain that 
the gases found were in no way peculiar to the filth in the 
old trap. Almost identically the same results were obtained, 
but the amounts of ammonia and sulphuretted hydrogen 
were very slightly less, which might show that the filth in 
the receiver and old trap may have been responsible for a 
small percentage of the gas produced. 

He also made the experiments again with the soil pipe 
2-inch vent closed at the top. This increased the amount 
of gases passed through the water seal to 32 and 17 grains 
in the case of the carbonic acid. The sulphuretted hydro- 
gen was increased from i-iooth to i-ojoth of a grain in the 
24 hours. Diffused through the atmosphere of a house 
these quantities are from a health point of view absolutely 
harmless. "Thirty-two grains (the largest quantity) of car- 
bonic acid is less than the quantity of the same gas given off 
when a bottle of lemonade is drawn." A man exhales in 
the same time about 400 times the amount which passed 
through the trap from an unventilated and very foul soil 
pipe. The i-iooth of a grain of ammonia and the i-6oth of 

92 



Carmichael's Tests. 

a grain of sulphuretted hydrogen would, of course, be ut- 
terly unnoticeable. As for the foetid organic vapors, mere 
traces of these exist in the sewer-air, and if they do pass 
through the trap they would be in quantities too minute for 
detection. "We are able, however, to state in more exact 




MtThoo of Testwe faun offftrr* Tmr 




tm VKjaim AmtMM. 




Fig. 41. 



Apparatus for determining if gases and germs from a 
clean soil pipe can pass through water in trap. 



terms something as to the quantity in which they may come 
through. These vapors are organic ; as already stated, they 
are carbo-ammoniacal, they are therefore decomposed by 
Wanklyn's process for the estimation of nitrogenous matter, 
as ammonia, and are, therefore (if they do pass through the 

93 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

trap), included in the ammonia; and consequently less 
(probably very much less) than the i-iooth of a grain in 
24 hours. This, I need scarcely say, must be harmless." 

CAN BACTERIA PASS THROUGH A TRAP. 

We now come to the much more important question as 
to whether organic particles, bacteria, can pass through 
the trap. A simple but crude method of examining the 
question consists of a microscopical comparison of water 
through which soil pipe air has been drawn, with water 
through which air over the trap has been drawn. No par- 
ticles were found, by this method, to have passed through 
the trap. The organic particles are rendered so heavy by 
soaking with water that they are neither raised with the 
aqueous vapor nor by wind blowing over the surface, as 
has been proved by Dr. Frankland and many others. But 
''marshes and swamps, in a dry season, when the water is 
low and the particles are drying on the muddy sides, and on 
the vegetation on the banks, are frequently very pestilen- 
tial." Mr. Baldwin Latham says : "One thing is certain, 
with reference to malaria, that all authorities are agreed, 
that it is never extricated from a water surface." Dr. Car- 
michael set to work to prove these matters conclusively. He 
used a "culture" liquid capable of cultivating any germs 
added to it, and after sterilizing it in a temperature over 
212 F. he introduced into it the air taken from the trap to 
be tested. If after keeping the liquid at cultivation temper- 
ature, say from 60 to 120 deg. Fahr., for several weeks, it 
remains clear, then, no germs could have been in the air, and 
the water seal must have prevented their passage. If, on 
the other hand, the air had germs in it, they would multiply 
enormously in the infusion, rendering it opaque and per- 
haps producing growths of fungi. 

The apparatus used is shown in Fig. 42. A glass flask 

94 



Can Bacteria Pass Through a Trap? 

containing the culture solution, a hay infusion, was con- 
nected on the one side with a U-shaped glass trap contain- 
ing water, and on the other with an aspirator as shown. 
The hay infusion and the water in the U-shaped trap were 
both sterilized by boiling. The U-shaped trap was con- 
nected on its other side with the soil pipe side of the water- 




ill 

Fig. 4 



Apparatus for determining whether bacteria can pass 
through water in a trap. 



closet trap. It will be seen from this arrangement that any 
germs coming from the soil pipe which passed through the 
water trap would be carried in the air current over to the 
infusion and would cause it to putrefy. But no such parti- 
cles passed through the trap seal, for the hay infusion re- 
mained perfectly clear though the experiments were con- 
tinued for five months. The tests were made both with and 

95 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

without the aspirator, and various kinds of culture liquids 
were used. Tests were also made with the U-shaped trap 
omitted, and in these cases the infusions began to putrefy 
in a few days, showing that the water trap really prevented 
the germs from passing. 

These experiments seemed conclusive ; but lest it might be 
objected that germs might rise from the liquid of the trap 
and fail to be carried over, or that an ordinary water-closet 




Fig. 43. 



Apparatus for determining more critically whether bacteria 
can pass through water in traps. 



trap might behave differently from the glass one employed, 
Dr. Carmichael made a still more crucial series of tests as 
follows : Nitrogen bulbs, Figs. 39 and 43, were charged 
with a strong cultivating liquid called Pasteur's solution, 
and sterilized. The lead W. C. trap, connected with the 
soil pipe, was also sterilized by heating it to 350 to 400 
degrees Fahr., and the bulbs were connected with the house 
side of the trap with an air-tight connection already de- 
scribed in connection with the first experiments. The other 

96 



Can Bacteria Pass Through a Trap? 

end of the bulb vessel was connected with the aspirator. 
In order to let air into the trap chamber above the water 
seal a filtering tube was used so that no germs could come 
to the bulbs unless they passed over the W. C. trap seal. 
The whole apparatus was most carefully and thoroughly 
sterilized. The filtered air was drawn by the aspirator into 
the chamber over the trap seal and then bubbled continu- 
ously through the liquid in the bulbs for from 24 to 36 
hours, and the bulbs were then allowed to stand in a warm 
room at 75 to 100 degrees Fahr. for several months, and 
the experiments were repeated in the most rigorous and 
careful manner. The liquids in all the tubes and flasks, 
though kept for from two to five months at cultivation tem- 
perature, remained perfectly clear, and even when examined 
with a most powerful microscope used for germ studies and 
multiplying 900 diameters, exhibited no trace of life. Dr. 
Carmichael concludes as follows : 

"Water traps are, therefore, for the purpose for which 
they are employed, that is, for the exclusion from houses 
of injurious substances contained in the soil pipe, perfectly 
trustworthy. They exclude the soil pipe atmosphere to such 
an extent, that what escapes through the water is so little 
in amount, and so purified by filtration, as to be perfectly 
harmless ; and they exclude entirely all germs and particles, 
including, without doubt, the specific germs or contagia of 
disease, which, we have already seen, are, so far as known, 
distinctly particulate." 

Dr. Carmichael, in describing the pan closet used in his 
experiments, Fig. 43, says: "If you examine such a trunk 
(receiver) as is found in almost every house in Glasgow, 
you will find it coated over, to the thickness, frequently, of 
an inch or more with filth." He then recommended the 
short hopper he showed in the picture above the pan closet. 

The two glass vessels shown in the initial cut to 

97 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



this chapter, illustrate another experiment made by Dr. 
Carmichael, to see if germs would rise from the surface 
of water at rest. He placed cultivating liquid in each of the 
tubes and connected them together at the top by a rubber 




Fig. 44. 






Apparatus for determining whether bacteria can escape 
from a liquid at rest. 



tube. Into each tube had been placed a small capillary 
tube filled with a putrid liquid and hermetically sealed at 
both ends. The cultivating liquid was sterilized in both 
large tubes. Then one of the small capillary tubes was 



98 



Can Bacteria Escape From a Liquid at Rest? 

broken by shaking and its putrid contents thus mixed with 
the infusion in its enclosing vessel. The germs did not pass 
over into the other vessel, even though the test was con- 
tinued for five years uninterruptedly. 




Fig. 45. 



Apparatus for determining: if a current of air can take up 
germs from a liquid at rest. 



STUDIES OF PUMPELLY AND SMYTH. 

The experiments of Professors Pumpelly and Smyth for 
the National Board of Health at Washington are extremely 
interesting and fully corroborate those of Carmichael. 

99 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

In their first series made to determine whether bacteria 
or other particulate matter can disentangle themselves from 
a liquid, water, sewage and putrefied substances were sus- 
pended, as shown in Fig. 44, in a bent tube over a sterilized 
beef infusion in a room where the temperature ranged be- 
tween 20 and 35 degrees Centr. The flask containing the 
infusion was closed air tight by a rubber stopper, through 
which the tube passed, which held the sewage in a small 
bowl or trap at its lower end. The stoppers contained also 
a small asbestos filled filter tube. In this form of the experi- 
ments the air around the sewage was in a state of rest. 

can bacteria disentangle themselves from liquids. 

In another form the apparatus shown in Fig. 45 was used 
to investigate whether a current of air could take up germs 
from a liquid at rest. The sewage was placed in a U-shaped 
tube which formed the trap, and was connected with a flask 
containing the culture liquid by means of narrow tubing, as 
shown. This tube passed through rubber stoppers which 
close the tops of the flask and one arm of the trap. An 
aspirator tube packed with an asbestos filter was connected 
with the flask through its rubber stopper, and air was drawn 
at any desired rapidity through the apparatus, being filtered 
before entering the trap by an asbestos filter in a small glass 
tube connecting with the trap through its rubber stopper. 

Finally a third form of apparatus, shown in Fig. 46, was 
used to see if a liquid can part with germs when bubbling, 
in consequence of the evolution of gases produced by its 
own fermentation, or of the aspiration of air through its 
mass. The sewage in this case was held in a small test tube, 
the filtering tube supplying air descended nearly to the bot- 
tom of the sewage so that, as it was drawn through it by the 
aspirator, it created a bubbling or boiling of the liquid. The 
aspiration was produced by connecting the aspirator tube 

100 



Experiments on Filtration. 

with a large flask of water and then drawing off the water 
through a stop cock connected with the bottom of the flask 
at any desired speed. The results of these experiments were 
given in the report as follows : 




Fig. 46. 



Apparatus for determining if a liquid can part with 
germs when bubbling. 



"At normal summer temperatures no germs were given 
off from the decomposing liquids whenever their surfaces 
remained unbroken, even though in some of the experi- 
ments the air was continuously conducted over them in a 
slow current. When the surfaces of the liquids were broken, 

101 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

however, by the bursting of bubbles, germs were invariably 
given off and the sterilized infusions infected, no matter how 
slowly the aspiration was conducted." 

In order to be sure that germs were not conveyed along 
the inner surface of the bent connecting tube between the 
trap and the flask containing the infusions, by capillary 
action, the bend in this tube was kept perfectly free from 
moisture during the entire time of the experimentation by 
means of a gentle heat. 

"As the tubes," says the report, "were constantly covered 
with films of moisture from condensed vapors there was no 
possibility of the bacterial growths drying around the sur- 
face edges of the infusions in the inner arms ; nor, were that 
to happen, would it seem probable, judging from Wernich's 
experiments, that germs could become detached and taken 
up by the air in the flasks." 

The experiments of Naegeli, Wernich, Miquel and others 
clearly show, also, that under normal conditions germs are 
not given off to the surrounding air through the evapora- 
tion of a liquid containing them, nor from thoroughly 
moistened sand or solid matter of any kind. 

FURTHER STUDIES OF PUMPELLY AND SMYTH. 

The studies of Pumpelly and Smyth on soils as filters of 
different compositions and structures are very important and 
were made to ascertain : 

1. Their action as filters for air or gases, generally. 

2. Their action as filters for water and other liquids. 
When we consider that every foul and defective cesspool 

is a center of pollution to the ground water which supplies 
our wells, and to a certain extent also the reservoirs for 
cities, we can understand the importance of determining to 
what extent average soils can filter them. Our houses 
become the ventilating chimneys for*the surrounding ground, 

102 



Experiments on Filtration. 

sucking in the air from its pores, and when this air is pol- 
luted by sewage it is important to know if these impurities 
can be removed from it by filtration. The experiments 
showed that the filters, especially where wet, were able, as 
might be expected from what we have learned about bac- 
teria adhering to damp surfaces, to entangle and retain the 
germs which had been floating in the air, whereas when the 
germs were in water none of the filters tried could, for the 
same reason, extricate them from it. The germs could not 
escape from the water, but had to follow it between the 
grains of the filters. 

Our next two pictures show the apparatus used for mak- 
ing these investigations (Figs. 47 and 48). Fig. 47 shows a 
simple test tube slightly contracted at the center, having 
an infusion of beef or some other easily putrescible sub- 
stance at the bottom. A small piece of copper gauze rested 
on the shoulder formed by the contraction in the tube above 
the infusion, and upon this copper gauze as a support rested 
the substance to be tested in each case as a filter. The height 
of the filter column varied from about a sixteenth of an inch 
to about six inches. Nearly ninety filters were tried of as- 
bestos, sand, loess, charcoal, animal charcoal and coal ashes. 
This apparatus and the others to be described showed that 
dry soils, even in comparatively coarse grains form good fil- 
ters for germ-laden air, and the wet filters are still more 
efficacious than dry ; and that putrid soils not only retain 
the germs which they already possess, but also extract others 
from air passing through them. The infusions under the 
filters remained sound for months, though separated from 
the bacteria floating in the surrounding air only by a very 
small layer of the filter. 

In the second series of experiments the apparatus shown 
(Fig. 48) was used to show the effect of the filters upon a 
current of air passing through them. A flask provided with 

103 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

an air-tight rubber stopper was used. The filter was placed 
in a tube passing through the stopper and rested on a copper 
gauze within the tube. The aspirator tube also passed 
through the stopper and its lower end was protected by a 
filter in order to prevent microbes from entering the flask 





Figs. 47 and 48. Apparatus for testing air filters. 

through it while it was disconnected with the aspirating 
mechanism which we have already described. The beef in- 
fusion was put in the bottom of the flask. The filters were 
subjected in this, and in another apparatus shown in the test 
tube Fig. 48a, at intervals during five months to rapid cur- 
rents of air beginning at the rate of I quart in from 4 to 7J/2 
hours and increasing to 1 quart in \ l / 2 minutes. The two filter 
columns in the bent tube apparatus were about 4 inches (10 
centimeters) high each, and consisted of sand screened 



104 



Experiments on Filtration. 

through 30 to 50 meshes per inch; in others fine sand, 100 
grains to an inch, was used, and in still others asbestos 



tfn?" 




— c 



— I 





Fig. 48a. Apparatus for testing air filters. 

packed rather tightly. All the filters stood these extremely 
trying tests, the infusions remaining intact. 

The experiments show that as long as the grains are 



105 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

small, all the substances tested, filter perfectly all organisms 
from the air passing through them. 

Very different were the results of the attempts to filter 
germs from liquids. 

In these experiments there were tried in the first apparatus 
consisting of the simple test tube, three sets of filtrations, 
the liquids being respectively (a) fresh infusions, (b) putrid 
infusions, and (c) water. 

In the first set the filters employed were sand, charcoal, 
and animal charcoal, the finest of each being ioo grains to 
the inch, and asbestos in columns of about 6^2 inches high. 
All failed to filter out the germs except two filters out of 
twelve of asbestos, and of the finest animal charcoal ; the re- 
maining asbestos and the coarser animal charcoal 15 to an 
inch and the vegetable charcoal in all grades failing equally 
with the sand. 

Similar filters were used in the second set of experiments 
(with putrid infusions). In this set only tightly packed 
asbestos stood the test; in all others the infusions passed 
through turbid. 

In the third set (filtration of water) the substances tested 
were in columns 6 l / 2 inches high, of tightly packed asbestos, 
charcoal, some 25, others 50, and others 100 grains to the 
inch; animal charcoal, some 15 and others 100 grains to an 
inch; loess, kaolin, coal ashes, sand of 25, 30, 50 and 100 
grains to the inch, respectively. 

The experiments were conducted so that only a drop or 
two of water should reach the infusion at first ; more water 
being passed after intervals of several days, where the in- 
fusion remained uninfected. 

Of these the tightly packed asbestos stood repeated filtra- 
tions for ten days, after which the infusion putrefied. Of 
the finest animal charcoal filters, one out of four filtered out 

106 



Experiments on Filtration. 

the germs. The other three stood repeated filterings during 
\y to 20 days, after which the infusion became infected. 

The coal ashes were subjected to repeated filtrations dur- 
ing 10 to 19 days, after which the infusions broke down. 
With the loess the infusions were affected after six to eight 
days. 

With kaolin and sand they broke down in from one to 
eight days, except two, which lasted 19 and 20 days respec- 
tively. In all the others the first drop that passed through 
infected the infusion. 

The experimenters now made a bold jump from columns 
of a half a foot to columns 22 and 100 feet in height, and 
in them the filter used was sand mixed 18 and 100 grains to 
the inch. The apparatus used is shown in the coiled pipes in 
Fig. 49. To obtain sterilized columns of such a length the 
sand was intensely heated 'and poured into a lead pipe, 
which was then coiled. It was then placed in a furnace and 
heated to between 250 and 300 degrees Centr., and then 
the lower end attached to the flask containing the infusion, 
as shown on the floor by the table. The flask was venti- 
lated through a tube protected by sterilized asbestos, as 
shown. 

The whole was then allowed to rest several weeks to be 
sure that the infusion had been properly sterilized. The 
pipe was then very slowly filled with water from the faucet. 
The first water that passed through each of the 22 and 100 
foot columns carried infection with it. 

The following conclusions were drawn from these experi- 
ments : 

"I. All the substances operated on are excellent filters 
in eliminating germs from infected air passed through them, 
except when they are of a coarse grain — 10 to 20 grains to 
an inch — when the interstitial cavities become probably much 
less labyrinthine. And all these filters withstood the tests 

107 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

of currents having many thousand times the maximum veloc- 
ity attained in the soil. 

"II. All natural substances tried thus far, except the finest 
animal charcoal, and perhaps tightly packed asbestos, failed 
to eliminate wholly the germs from liquids." 

Of the natural soils tried we find sands entirely without 
power to filter germs from water, and probably in columns 
10,000 feet long as well as 100 feet. The loess and kaolin 
have more power, and in greater heights of columns it is 
possible they would be effective. The filtering capacity 
seems to be proportional to the smallness and intricacy of 
the interstitial cavities ; and in dry air filters there is a crit- 
ical limiting point beyond which there is no filtering. 

With liquids, far greater fineness and compactness of 
grain and intricacy of passage is needed than with air. 
While sand of even 20 grains to the inch is an excellent air 
filter, it is worthless for water, even as fine as 100 grains to 
an inch and in very long columns, and the critical limiting 
point below which soils begin to exercise any filtering action 
on water probably verges on the size of the particles of 
an impalpable powder. 

"From these results it appears very clearly," says the re- 
port, -that sand* interposes absolutely no barrier between 
wells and the bacterial infection from cesspools, cemeteries, 
etc., lying even at greater distances, in the lower wet stratum 
of sand. And it appears probable that a dry gravel or pos- 
sibly a dry very coarse sand interposes no barrier to the 

*o„ * SuC ^ essfu i water Oration through ordinary sand reauires a <*nr 
face eoaing of some much finer substance than the sand ?tsllf This 
fpHni ft i ? Sl ° W i a - nd filtration > ^ automatically deposited partly 'by bac 
ESS aC Tn S'*i nd *? rapi t mecha ™al filtration it s hemic y precipi- 
lli^tl ^ both systems the amount of the coating must be periodicaSy 
fatSn n? VL° rder to + maintain th * P^per speed of filtration P Th£ reg£ 
latum of the amount of coating, which is sometimes called the ''dirt 
« on er o? g « flTtP sch f utz ^," forms the most costlyVr? o ? the op Na- 
tion of a filter A number of plans for reducing this expense are now 

eXir^r^iWation.'! 011 ° Be "* the WHt " fi ootllnSTn T iStS 



108 



Experiments on Filtration. 

free entrance into houses built upon them of these organ- 
isms which smarm in the ground-air around leaching cess- 
pools, leaky drains, etc., or in the filthy made-ground of 
cities. 




Fig 



Long- coil of pipe filled 
with sand. 



"And from the results obtained from the two series of 
experiments, viz., in filtering air and in filtering water, we 
can now draw one very important practical conclusion which 
cannot be too strongly emphasized. That a house may be 
built on a thoroughly dry body of sand or gravel, and its 
cellar may be far above the level of the ground-water at all 
times, and it may yet be in danger of having the air of its 
rooms contaminated by germs from leaching cesspools and 
vaults ; for, if the drift of the leaching be toward the cellar, 
very wet seasons may extend the polluted moisture to the 
cellar walls, whence, after evaporation, the germs will pass 
into the atmospheric circulation of the house." 

109 



CHAPTER VI. 
Micro-Organisms in Sewer Air. 

The methods for the 
study of micro-organic 
life in air are of compar- 
atively recent date and 
are daily being improved. 
According to Roechling 
about six sets of investi- 
gations into the bacte- 
rial flora of sewer air 
have within recent years 
been made, and from 
them in complete cor- 
roboration of other re- 
searches made before by 
less perfect methods and 
apparatus. 
They show that sewer 
air contains few germs as compared with outer air, sewer 
air containing on the average from 2 to 9 germs where 
outer air contained 15 per quart. These germs are related to 
the germs of the outer air, but not to the sewage itself, 
which contain an enormous number of germs, a quart con- 
taining sometimes as many as 5 billion. Disease germs are 
not found in sewers with the single exception of the germ of 
suppuration (staphylococus pyogenes aureus) and up to 
the present time* only one of the many observers (Uffel- 
mann) has been able to discover even this pathogenic germ 




*This was written before the experiments of Major Horrocks 
had been made. 



110 



Micro-Organisms in Sewer Air. 

in sewer air. Splashing of sewage, as when a branch sewer 
enters another or a main sewer with a high fall, may cause 
a fine state of division of sewage in virtue of which germs 
may be carried some distance through the air, "even 50 or 
60 yards" according to Laws, from which our remedy lies 
in so arranging the connections as to avoid splashing. 

If the sewage falls against the inner curved surface of 
the drain it may be arranged to do this without splashing 
even from a considerable height. The experiments of Laws 
showed that a branch drain emptying its sewage into an 
egg-shaped sewer 11 ft. high by 9 ft. wide from about the 
middle of its height produced practically no effect upon the 
number of micro-organisms in the sewer air. 

The experiments of Laws in London and Ficker in Bres- 
lau seem to show that germs cannot be given off from the 
slimy skin which forms on the inner surface of sewers on 
account of the dampness of the air in them. Mr. Laws says 
in regard to this: "It is really remarkable to find that no 
organisms are given off from the walls of a sewer which has 
been empty and open to the air at both ends for such a 
lengthened period as 12 days. The sewage with which the 
sewer had been kept full for several periods of 24 hours 
would contain no less than three to four millions of organ- 
isms per cubic centimeter (about ^ in. cube) and immense 
numbers of these must of necessity have been clinging to the 
walls of the sewer. . . . The velocity of the air current 
used in the above experiments was 5 ft. and 15 ft. per sec- 
ond, respectively, the latter being far in excess of any cur- 
rent that would normally obtain in a sewer." 

Ficker found that a current of air of several yards a 
second could not lift up germs from a hal'f moist soil, nor 
even germs which had dried on several substances and ad- 
hered to them. 

Hesse experimented to see how far germs could be car- 
ill 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

ried in air currents in pipes and sewers before falling against 
and adhering to their sides. In one experiment with a 2-in. 
pipe a yard long, coated with nutritive gelatine, he found 
that the air current deposited a large number of bacteria on 
the first quarter, less on the second, still less on the third, 
none at all on the last quarter. Ficker experimented in this 
line with 4-inch pipes and found the germs were carried as 
much as 23 feet. 

Disease germs find the conditions in the sewers unfavor- 
able to their life and propagation. They cannot survive 
against the myriads of other germs that crowd the sewage 
and in their slow death in fighting against these they gradu- 
ally lose their virulence or power for mischief long before 
their actual death takes place. 

Kirchner says : "We are entitled to say with a probability 
bordering on certainty that presumably pathogenic germs 
will never be found in sewer air." 

Messrs. Laws and Andrewes went so far as to classify 
elaborately and comparatively the various kinds of germs 
found in the outer air, in sewer air and in the sewage itself, 
and they found the same kinds in sewer air as in the outer 
air, but a totally different kind in the sewage. They even 
go so far as to say that so far as they are aware, not a 
single colony of any of the many species which they found 
predominate in sewage has been isolated from sewer air. 

These investigators even assert that "moderate splashing 
carried out so as to imitate the inflow of a lateral drain or 
house sewer produces no variation in the sewer air even 
within such a short radius as four feet from the disturb- 
ance." In view, however, of the absence, still, of accord on 
this point among all investigators, it is well to avoid such 
splashing as far as possible. 

As for the typhoid fever germ, how very difficult it is, to 
catch it, even in sewage, is clear, says Mr. Roechling, from 

112 



Micro-Organisms in Sewer Air. 

the report of Messrs. Laws and Andrewes. Although they 
used the greatest care, they were not" able to find this germ 
once, in ordinary London sewage. Even in the typhoid 
fever hospital drain inside the hospital grounds, they were 
able to find only two colonies, and in this drain a quarter of 
a mile away not a single typhoid germ was found. They 
probably were killed by other bacteria who were their ene- 
mies and vastly exceeded them in numbers ; for many harm- 
less germs thrive in sewage, as disease germs appear not to. 

Accordingly from all these investigations we may con- 
clude that the cases of typhoid fever and other diseases 
to which we have alluded were not due to disease germs 
entering the houses in the air of the sewers, but to contami- 
nation of the food or water supply by sewage polluted water, 
or by insects, especially house flies, passing from infected 
substances to the food or bodies of the inmates, the sewer 
air simply predisposing the system to infection. 

A few words now about different methods of sewage dis- 
posal are necessary to enable us to treat intelligently the 
house plumbing connecting with and dependent upon it. 

Mr. Roechling** well defines "decomposition" as the 
process of complete oxidation or mineralization, in which 
the organic matter in the presence of an ample supply of 
oxygen is converted into its new compounds of water, car- 
bonic acid, nitrous and nitric acids without the creation of 
foul smells; and "putrefaction" as the process of incom- 
plete oxidation, in which, in the absence of oxidation, foul 
smells are produced "which poison the atmosphere." 

Decomposition is conducted by the "aerobes," bacteria 
which can only exist in the presence of oxygen, but putre- 
faction with its foul and injurious smells is accomplished by 



••"Sewer Gas and Its Influence Upon Health." H. Alfred Roech- 
ling. Biggs & Co., London, 1899. 

113 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

hordes of aenaerobes who "finally perish in the ever increas- 
ing carbonic acid or in other substances of their own mak- 
ing. 

It is stated that the number of bacteria of decomposition 
which are found in the average dejecta of an adult male 
exceeds thirty thousand millions, and it is held that, where 
disease germs exist among these, they succumb after a short 
struggle for existence with the swarms of the aerobes. 

A properly constructed system of sewers is one which 
delivers all waste matters at the sewer outlet in a fresh .con- 
dition, that is in a condition in which they might flow 
through a perfectly smooth and well washed street gutter 
without attracting attention by their odor. The sewers must 
be thus constructed and as free from odors as such a street 
gutter. To accomplish this, all unscoured areas or chambers 
in the drainage system and foul dead ends of every descrip- 
tion in the house or out of it, must be avoided as centers of 
putrefaction. 

VIEWS OF OTHER AUTHORITIES. 

Dr. A. Jacobi in a paper read before the Congress of 
American Physicians and Surgeons at Washington as early 
as 1894, sums up as follows : 

"I may be finally permitted to add the oral testimony of 
more than a dozen European medical men and dozens of 
Americans. Every one was asked by me : What do you 
know of the production of a specific germ disease out of, 
or through, sewer air? The uniform answer was: There 
is a general vague impression among the public, but I never 
saw a case or could prove one. 

Some of the conclusions to be drawn from this paper 
would be as follows : 

The atmosphere contains some specific disease germs, 
both living and dead. 

114 



Micro-Organisms in Sewer Air. 

They are frequently found in places which were infected 
with specific disease. 

In sewer air fewer such germs have been found than in 
the air of houses and school rooms. 

Moist surfaces — that is, the contents of cesspools and 
sewers, and the walls of sewers — while emitting odors do 
not give off specific germs even in a moderate current of 
wind. 

Splashing of the sewer contents may separate some germs, 
and then the air of the sewer may become temporarily in- 
fected, but the germ will sink to the ground again. 

Choking of the sewer, introduction of hot factory refuse, 
leaky house drains and absence of traps may be the causes 
of sewer air ascending or forced back into the houses. But 
the occurrence of this complication of circumstances is cer- 
tain to be rare. 

Whatever rises from the sewer under these circumstances 
is offensive and irritating. A number of ailments, inclusive, 
perhaps, of sore throats, may originate from these causes. 
But no specific diseases will be generated by them except 
in the rarest of conditions, for specific germs are destroyed 
by the process of putrefaction in the sewers, and the worse 
the odor the less the danger, particularly from diphtheria. 

The causes of the latter disease are very numerous, and 
the search for the origin of an individual case is often un- 
successful. 

Irritation of the throat and naso-pharynx is a frequent 
source of local catarrh ; this creates a resting place for 
diphtheria germs, which are ubiquitous during an epidemic, 
and thus an opportunity for diphtheria is furnished. 

Of the specific germs, those of typhoid and dysentery 
appear 'to be the least subject to destruction by cesspools 
and sewers. These diseases appear to be sometimes refer- 
able to direct exhalation from privies and cesspools. Very 
few cases, if any, are attributable to sewer air. 

115 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

A single outlet from a sewer would be dangerous to gen- 
eral health because of the density of odors (not germs) aris- 
ing therefrom. Therefore a very thorough and multiple 
ventilation is required.* 

The impossibility or great improbability of specific dis- 
eases rising from sewers into our houses, protected as they 
are, or ought to be, by good drains and efficient traps, must, 
however, not lull our citizens and authorities into indolence 
and carelessness. 

For the general health is suffering from chemical exhala- 
tions, and the vitality of cell life and the powers of resist- 
ance are undermined by them." 

Naegeli experimented by enclosing putrescent and putres- 
cible liquids in sealed vessels together for over three years 
without air infection taking place, and by drawing air 
through sand wetted with putrescing liquid and then through 
sterile infusion without infecting the latter. 

Sir Edward Frankland of England found that "the mod- 
erate agitation of a liquid does not cause the suspension of 
liquid particles capable of transport by the circumambient 
air/' but that "the breaking of minute gas bubbles on the 
surface of a liquid consequent upon the generation of gas 
within the body of the liquid is a potent cause" of such 
suspension, and that therefore the stagnation of sewage or 
constructive defects in sewers may form cesspools of putre- 
faction in the sewers and generate gases which may form 
these bubbles. Such defects in sewer construction are totally 
unnecessary, and cesspool accumulations should, as I have 
said, never be allowed. 

In 1883 P- Miquel* published the results of his experi- 
ments on the comparison between sewer and street air in 



*"The Sidewalk Ventilators in New York City are almost all 
obstructed." 

*"Les Organismes Vivants de l'Atmosphere," Paris. 

116 



Micro-Organisms in Sewer Air. 

Paris, and from 1893 to 1899 ne made periodical tests which 
were given in the following table : 

BACTERIA IN COUNTRY AIR, CITY AIR, AND SEWER AIR, 
PER CUBIC METER. 

Country Air. City Street. 

Year. Montsouris. Hotel de Ville. Sewer Air. 

1893 285 8,435 5PI5 

1894 230 9,775 2,920 

1895 330 7^15 2,590 

1896 6,205 3,965 

1897 197 5,4io 3,875 

1898 5,200 2,075 

1899 6,595 2,910 

Uffelmann experimented with a house drain in 1886-7, 
taking nine samples at intervals during a year. He found 
an average of 3 bacteria per liter of sewer air. Petri found 
1 bacterium and 3 molds in 100 liters of air in a Berlin sewer 
on one occasion and no bacteria and 1 mold on another. 

Carnelley and Haldane* made important studies on sewer 
air in England in 1887. They found less bacteria in the 
sewers than in the streets in almost all cases, averaging 9 
per liter in the former and 16 in the latter. They conclud- 
ed that *'The micro-organisms in sewer air come entirely, 
or nearly so, from the outside, and are not derived, or only 
in relatively small numbers, from the sewer itself." They 
found a considerable increase, however, under violent splash- 
ing. They found less bacteria in the air in contact with 
quietly flowing sewage rather than more, on account of the 
wet surface. 

Robertson** found less bacteria in the air of the sewers 



*T. Carnelley and J. S. Haldane. "The Air of Sewers," proceed- 
ings of the Royal Society of London, 1887, XLII, pp. 394 and 501. 

**"A Study of Micro-Org-anisms in Air. Especially Those in 
Sewer Air, and a New Method of Demonstrating Them." British 
Med. Journal, Dec. 15, 1888. 

117 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

of Penrith than in the street air, averaging 4 to 6 respec- 
tively. More bacilli were found in the former and more 
cocci in the latter. 

Laws found that even splashing in sewers was unlikely 
to produce appreciable infection, and that sewage falling 
into an egg-shaped sewer, 11 ft. x 9, from the middle of 
its height, produced practically no effect on the number 
of germs. 

J. McG. Smith (Sixth Annual Report of the Metropolitan 
Board of Water Supply and Sewerage, 1893) found as an 
average of 20 tests 225 germs per liter in the sewers of 
Sydney, the particular forms being without exception organ- 
isms common in street air. 

In 1894 Dr. A. C. Abbott of Philadelphia found germs 
were transported on a current having a velocity of 16.5 cm. 
per minute, but not by one of 8.6 per minute or less. Dr. 
Abbott's conclusions were that the danger of bacteria being 
transmitted under natural conditions was practically negli- 
gible. 

Dr. Charles Harrington* says "The majority and the best 
of German investigators, such as Fliigge, Rubner, Gartner, 
Soyka, Prausnitz, and others maintain that sewer air and 
sewer gases are quite incapable of conveying the germs of 
typhoid fever and other infective diseases. It is true that 
some of the gases given off in the putrefaction processes 
which go on in sewers are more or less poisonous, but 
whether they are capable of producing any injurious defects 
depends very much on the amount inhaled and on the degree 
of concentration. In any event they are certainly incapable 
of producing any infective disease in the absence of the 
specific germ." 

Mr. Allen Hazen writes that Col. Ruttan has "investigat- 
ed the plumbing in a considerable series of houses in Win- 



■A Manual of Practical Hygiene, Phila. and N. Y., 1901. 

118 



Micro-Organisms in Sewer Air. 

nepeg with the general result of finding that plumbing is 
not associated with typhoid fever. In fact his statistics 
show a somewhat larger proportion of cases of typhoid fever 
in the houses where the plumbing is good, than in those 
places where it is defective." 

Mr. Hazen sums up the best current American opinion 
in the following sentence "After many years of experience 
and long continued investigation there is not the slightest 
reason to believe that infectious diseases are carried by the 
air of sewers."* 

G. C. Whipple** says "Typhoid germs do not readily 
leave a moist surface. Sticky by nature they adhere until 
desiccation loosens their dead cells. For this reason sewer 
air is not to be looked upon as a direct means of infection." 

In 1907 Major W. H. Horrocks* of the Royal Army 
Medical Corps of Great Britain in some analyses of sewer 
air at Gibraltar found under certain conditions germs car- 
ried from the sewage into the air. His principal deduction 
from these tests was stated as follows : "Specific bacteria 
present in sewage may be ejected into the air of ventilation 
pipes, inspection chambers, drains and sewers by (a) the 
bursting of bubbles at the surface of the sewage, (b) the 
separation of dried particles from the walls of pipes, cham- 
bers, and sewers, and probably by (c) the ejection of minute 
droplets from flowing sewage." 

This paper created some excitement among sanitarians in 
the world, and caused many to return almost to the old time 
terror of "sewer gas." 

But closer examination of the experiments of Horrocks 
and of his summary of conclusions does not appear to jus- 



•Engineering News, L.III, 246. 

**ln the latest American Text Book on Typhoid Fever (Typhoid 
Fever, New York, 1908). 

♦Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, Vol. LXXIX, No. E 
631. p. 255. Feb. 7. 1907. 

119 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

tify any such alarm. These conclusions as stated by himself 
were only such as had practically been admitted by previous 
investigators we have already quoted. 

In some of his experiments Major Horrocks used strongly 
foaming soapy solutions and vigorous splashing resulting 
in the ejection of a few germs (B. prodigiosus) from the 
sewage in the same way with other investigators. In an- 
other case he obtained a few germs from quietly flowing 
sewage. But this again had been observed by others and 
ascribed to the drying of sewage on the sides of the pipes, 
or from the transmission through it of fine bubbles caused 
by decomposition or chemical action in the sewage. Certain 
germs are known to dart rapidly through the fluids in which 
they exist under the action of flagella, celia or whips at- 
tached to their bodies. Others have a slow serpentine, spiral 
or creeping motion and it might, at first thought, seem pos- 
sible for the swiftly darting kinds to leap out of the water 
like a flying fish and thus escape into the air. A flying fish 
can leap from the water and remain a few moments in the 
air. But the germ has not the peculiar muscular, flexible, 
and springy body, fins and tail of the flying fish. The long 
flagella of the germ presents precisely the construction which 
would prevent aerial flight especially when heavy with water 
soaking. Cuttle and jelly fishes more nearly resemble the 
flagellated bacteria and these do not fly about in the air. To 
expect such action on the part of even the swiftest darting 
germ would be as reasonable as to expect to see a devilfish 
paddle himself with his long tentacles up to the surface of 
the ocean and soar away above the clouds. Mariners have 
not as yet recorded having seen this feat and microscopists 
are as little likely to have to tell the tale about disease germs. 
That germs do not progress by their own motive power 
through air was indicated by Pasteur when he proved that 
it was not necessary to insist upon hermetic sealing or cotton 

120 



Micro-Organisms in Sewer Air. 

filters to keep them from gaining access to a flask of in- 
fusion. It is now well known that if the neck of the flask 
be drawn out into a long tube and turned downwards, and 
then a little upwards, even though the end be left open, no 
contamination will gain access. The force of gravity will 
prevent them from ascending the long arm of the tube into 
the neck of the flask and impregnating the infusion. 

Moreover Major Horrock's bacterium prodigiosus has a 
very slow and sluggish motion. His conclusion that germs 
may probably escape from minute droplets ejected from 
flowing sewage seems perfectly natural and requires no 
special explanation. 

A repetition of Major Horrock's experiments by another 
well known bacteriologist* recorded in the following table 
showed similar results, and in this case also the germs eject- 
ed were so few as to be, from a sanitary point of view, con- 
sidering the great volume of the air into which they were 
transmitted, entirely negligible, as he showed in various 
ways and from the following table. 

BACTERIA IN AIR OVER FOAMING LIQUIDS. 

B. prodigiosus per liter. 
Experiment. In liquid. In air. 

1 630,000,000 0000 

2 680,000,000 0000 

3 230,000,000 0100 

4 5,000,000,000 0130 

5 1 ,000,000,000 0000 

6 2,700,000,000 1 o o 1 

7 1 ,800,000,000 000 

8 4,400,000,000 000 

He found that even under conditions of foaming and bub- 
bling very favorable for ejecting bacteria into the air from 

*See report of Prof. C. E. A. Winslow's experiments for the 
National Association of Master Plumbers. 

121 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

liquids containing many millions and even billions of bac- 
teria per liter,* the number so ejected was so very small as to 
be practically negligible. Most accurate methods of detection 
were employed, so that there should be no question of detec- 
tion of any germ released from the liquids swarming with 
them. Prof. Newman** gives a provisional list of 
normal sewage bacteria as follow r s : (i) Coli com- 
munis, (2) proteus vulgaris, (3) B. enteriditis sporogenes, 
(4) liquefying bacteria, B. subtilis and B. mesentericus, (5) 
non-liquefying bacteria, (6) sarcinae, yeasts and moulds. No 
pathogenic bacteria are included in this inventory. "Doubt- 
less," he says, "such species (e. g., typhoid) not infrequently 
find their way into sewage. But they are not normal hab- 
itants, and though they struggle for survival, the keenness 
of the competition among the dense crowds of saprophytes 
makes existence almost impossible for them. * * * 
There is no relationship between the microbes contained in 
sewer air and those contained in sewage. Indeed, there is 
a marked difference which forms a contrast as striking as 
it is at first sight unexpected. The organisms isolated from 
sewer air are those commonly present in the open air. Micro- 
cocci and moulds predominate, whereas in sewage bacilli are 
most numerous. * * * Pathogenic organisms and those 
nearly allied to them are found in sewage, but absent in 
sewer air. * * * Lastly, only when there is splashing 
in the sewage, or when bubbles are bursting (Frankland) 
is it possible for sewage to part with its contained bacteria 
to the air of sewers. * * * The interior of the cavity 
of the mouth and external respiratory tracts is a moist 
perimeter from the walls of which no organisms can rise 
except under molecular disturbance. The position is pre- 
cisely analogous to the germ-free sewer air as established 



•About a quart. 

•♦Demonstrator of Bacteriology in King's College, London. In 
his work entitled "Bacteria," published by John Murray, London, 
1899. 

122 



Micro-Organisms in Sewer Air. 

by Messrs. Laws and Andrewes for the London City Coun- 
cil. The popular idea that infection can be 'given off by 
the breath' is contrary to the laws of organismal pollution 
of air. The required conditions are not fulfilled, and such 
breath infection must be of extremely rare occurrence. The 
air can only be infective when filled with organisms arising 
from dried surfaces. The other series of investigations were 
conducted by Drs. Hewlett and St. Clair Thomson, and 
dealt with the fate of micro-organisms in inspired air and 
micro-organisms in the healthy nose. They estimated that 
from 1,500 to 14,000 bacteria were inspired every hour. 
Yet, as we have pointed out, expired air contains practically 
none at all. * * * From the two series of experiments 
which we have now considered we may gather the follow- 
ing facts : 

(a) That air may contain great numbers of bacteria which 

may be readily inspired. 

(b) That in health those inspired do not pass beyond the 

moist surface of the nasal and buccal cavities. 

(c) That here there are various influences of a bactericidal 

nature at work in defense of the individual. 

(d) That expired air contains, as a rule, no bacteria what- 

ever. 

* * * "It should be noted that the bacilli of diphtheria 
are capable of lengthened survival outside the body, and are 
readily disseminated by very feeble air currents." 

Miquel found during a six years' investigation of the air 
of Paris an average of 4,000 bacteria per cubic meter in 
that of Montsouris Park. Fliigge, taking an average of 
the middle of the city, but only about a tenth as many in 
too bacteria per meter, estimates that "a man during a life- 
time of seventy years inspires about 25,000,000 bacteria, the 
same number contained in a quarter of a liter of fresh milk." 

The number of bacteria in the air diminishes in cities rap- 

123 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

idly in proportion to the altitude, Miquel rinding 750 per 
cubic meter in the Rue de Rivoli, but only 28 at the summit 
of the Pantheon. Whereas at the seashore there might 
average a hundred per meter, the number diminishes as the 
distance seaward increases, and the maximum distance sea- 
ward, according to Dr. Fischer's experiments, to which 
germs can be transported lies between 70 and 120 miles, 
beyond which they are almost invariably absent. "Of par- 
ticular interest in these experiments/' says Frankland, "is 
the very distinct manner in which they show that the micro- 
organisms which are present in sea-water are not commu- 
nicated to the air, excepting in the closest proximity to the 
surface, even when the ocean is much disturbed." 

All these facts co-operate to show that wet surfaces do 
not give up their germs to the air under normal conditions. 



124 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Disconnecting Trap and the Reasons Why Its Use 
Should Be Prohibited by Law. 




HE fact that the air of sewers is 
freer from all forms of micro-organisms 
than is the outer air above them ac- 
counts for the immunity with which pec 
pie may work in well ventilated sewers, 
and explains the reason why the great 
^ Paris sewers, for instance, are so safe, 
visited every year by thousands of travel- 
ers from all parts of the world, with no 
case on record of resulting disease. 
It has been related that the most re- 
markably located hotel in the world was built in these Paris 
sewers almost immediately beneath the Madeline church to 
accommodate the municipal scavengers. The interior was 
described as being singularly neat and clean, and as serving 
between sixty and seventy breakfasts and dinners to the 
workmen therein, and these sewer laborers are as healthy 
as are any other class of laborers in the city. 

In view of all the facts, it becomes evident that the dis- 
connecting trap and its vent are really worse than unneces- 
sary. They are a positive injury as obstructing ventilation 
and waste discharge, as complicating the plumbing, as forc- 
ing odors generated in poorly ventilated sewers directly into 
the crowded streets, sometimes greatly to the annoyance of 
the people, and, above all, of depriving us of one of the 
most effective means now known of filtering the air of 
cities and towns of dust and disease germs. Their use 

125 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

should therefore be prohibited by law so that every soil 
pipe may serve as an effective means of ventilating the 
sewers and reducing the number of floating impurities in 
the outer air. This latter advantage I have not as yet seen 
advanced, though it is of the utmost importance, especially 
in times of epidemics. 

So important is this matter and yet so little is it under- 
stood by the public that we ought to call a little further at- 
tention to some of the more recent investigations which 
have been made into the number and kind of bacteria found 
in the air of the streets and as to their fate when they find 
access into the sewers through the ventilating inlets. 

Analyses of the air in the Paris sewers have been regu- 
larly made at stated intervals and it is found that this air 
contains on the average more carbonic acid and ammoniacal 
nitrogen than the street air, but only half as many germs 
of any kind, while most of the investigators have failed to 
find any disease germs at all there. In these investigations 
it has been found also that the humidity in the sewers is 
great and practically constant. 

In the air of the sewers of Berlin Petri found that there 
were only a very small number of micro-organisms as com- 
pared with that of the streets. 

Similar results were obtained by other investigators in 
the sewers of London, Dundee, Westminster, Bristol and 
Sydney in Great Britain, where classifications of the various 
kinds of bacteria were made. In all these researches it was 
found that sewer air is, as far as germs are concerned, very 
much purer than outside air, and that these germs came not 
from the sewer but from the outer air ; that a decrease in 
the number of germs in the outer air was followed by their 
decrease in the sewer air ; that the kind of germs in the 
sewer air was the same as that in the outer air, but differ- 
ent from those contained in the sewage itself. Laws and 
Andrewes, who were commissioned by the county council 

126 



Disconnecting Trap Should be Prohibited by Law, 

to study the bacteria in the London sewers, state that the 
number of micro-organisms existing in sewer air appears 
to be entirely dependent upon the number existing in the 
outer air at the same time and in the same vicinity. They 
say that if the organisms existing in sewer air were derived 
from those existing in sewage, then the flora of sewer air 
should bear a very close resemblance to the flora of the 
sewage, but that they in reality bear no resemblance what- 
ever to one another. They say, indeed, "we may go even 
further and state that, as far as we are aware, not a single 
colony of any of those species which we have found pre- 
dominant in sewage has been isolated from sewer air. We 
consider, therefore, that the study of the sewage bacteria 
on which we have been engaged fully confirms the conclu- 
sions previously arrived at from the study of the micro- 
organisms of sewer air, viz., that there is no relationship 
between the organisms of sewer air and sewage." * * * 
"In the conclusions to Part I of this report we endeav- 
ored to show that sewer air has no power of taking up 
bacteria from the sewage with which it is in contact . A 
strong argument in favor of this view is the fact that the 
very organisms which are most abundant in sewage are 
precisely those which are absent from sewer air. In the 
course of previous experiments on sewer air, the nature of 
the organisms in some 1,200 liters of sewer air was care- 
fully determined. Not once was the bacillus coli communis 
or any of the predominant organisms of sewage found, 
though we have shown above that the former is present in 
sewage in numbers varying from 20,000 to 200,000 per cubic 
centimeter. If this be so, how infinitely improbable becomes 
the existence of the typhoid bacillus in the air of our sewers. 
That sewage* is a common medium for the dissemination 



♦This is before the disease germs are destroyed in the sewers 
by coming in contact wtih th^ other bacteria which find in sewage 
their natural element and which are non-pathogenic 

127 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

of typhoid is certain; that sewage-polluted soil may give 
up germs to subsoil air is possible ; but that the air of sewers 
themselves should play any part in the conveyance of ty- 
phoid fever appears to us, as the results of our investiga- 
tions, in the highest degree unlikely." 

Now the house drains and soil pipes, being much smaller 
and longer in proportion to their sectional area, and being 
more uniformly moistened on their inner surfaces when in 
use, and having more bends and angles in proportion to 
their length than the public sewers, are correspondingly 
more effective in removing any bacteria which may enter 
them from the sewers. Hence the air of the house drains 
will, as is quite evident, and as I shall endeavor to make 
visible by experiments, be found to be still freer from 
germs than even that of the sewers themselves. 

As has already been pointed out, the danger from the 
inspiration of sewer air is generally believed to lie in pre- 
disposing the system to harm from disease germs coming 
from other sources. This predisposition is probably due 
to the gases given out by putrid fermentation, such as 
carbonic acid, ammonia, sulphurated hydrogen, hydro car- 
bons and volatile fatty acids, and the danger is in propor- 
tion to the concentration of these poisonous matters. This 
danger may be reduced to a minimum or altogether re- 
moved by thorough ventilation. In order to provide a sim- 
ple ocular demonstration of the manner in which sewage 
and the moist surfaces of sewers arrest these fine particles 
when they are brought in contact with them, gradually 
clearing the air of them entirely, I constructed several ex- 
perimental drain pipes of metal and glass tubing and of 
different lengths, varying from ten to twenty-five feet, some 
being straight and others bent. 

These pipes were thoroughly moistened on the inside 

128 



Disconnecting Trap Should be Prohibited by Law, 

with water, and a specified quantity of dry fine dust was 
placed at one end of each, and the attempt was made to 
blow the dust through the pipes from end to end by means 
of bellows. Before describing our experiments it is im- 
portant to point out the relation which dust bears to disease 
and how it serves to disseminate bacteria through the air. 
Mrs. Frankland* says in her most valuable work, entitled 
"Bacteria in Daily Life," published in 1903 : "That it is 
no exaggeration to describe streets from the bacterial point 
of view as slums is to be gathered from the fact that much 
less than a thimbleful of that dust which is associated with 
the blustering days of March and the scorching pavements 
of summer may contain from nine hundred to one hundred 
and sixty millions of bacteria. But investigators have not 
been content to merely quantitatively examine street dust ; 
in addition to estimating the numerical strength of these 
dust battalions, the individual characteristics of their units 
have been exhaustively studied, and the capacity for work, 
beneficent or otherwise, possessed by them has been care- 
fully recorded. The qualitative discrimination of the bac- 
teria present in dust has resulted in the discovery of, among 
other disease germs, the consumption bacillus, the lockjaw 
or tetanus bacilli, bacteria associated with diphtheria, ty- 
phoid fever, pulmonary affections and various septic proc- 
ess. Such is the appetizing menu which dust furnishes for 
our delectation. There can be no doubt, therefore, that 
dust forms a very important distributing agent for micro- 
organisms, dust particles, aided by the wind, being to bac- 
teria what the modern motor-car, with its benzine or elec- 
tric current, is to the ambitious itinerant of the present 
day. Attached to dust, bacteria get transmitted with the 



*Mrs. Percy Frankland, Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Soci- 
ety, Honorary Member of Bedford College, University of London, 
and joint author with Professor Frankland of "Micro-Organisms in 
Water," "The Life of Pasteur," etc. 

129 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

greatest facility from place to place, and hence the signifi- 
cance of their presence in dust." 

It is also now believed that typhoid fever may be spread 
by dust, the germs having been discovered in it. A typhoid 
fever epidemic at Athens a few years ago was believed 
on good evidence to have been spread by the wind on typhoid 
dust particles, and epidemics of typhoid in other places have 
recently been traced to the same cause, the dejecta of suf- 
ferers from the disease having been thrown in places where 
it became dried and afterward distributed by the wind. 

"That the bacillus of consumption," says Frankland, 
"should have been very frequently found in dust by dif- 
ferent investigators is hardly surprising when it is realized 
that the sputum of phthisical persons may contain the 
tubercle germ in large numbers, and that until recently no 
efforts have been made in this country to suppress that 
highly objectionable and most reprehensible practice of in- 
discriminate expectoration. Considering that the certified 
deaths from phthisis in 1901 in England and Wales only 
reached the enormous total of 42,408, and bearing in mind 
the hardy character of the bacillus tuberculosis when pres- 
ent in sputum, it having been found alive in the latter even 
when kept in a dry condition after ten months, it is not too 
much to demand that vigorous measures should be taken 
by the legislature to cope with what is now regarded as one 
of the most fruitful means of spreading consumption." 

Boards of health and high authorities both here and 
abroad have stated that tuberculous sputum is the main 
agent for the conveyance of the virus of tuberculosis in the 
air- from man to man, and that indiscriminate expectoration 
should therefore be suppressed. 

Dr. E. Concornotti has recently made a very elaborate 
study of the distribution of disease germs in air, with the 
result that out of forty-six experiments in which the ch? r - 

130 



Disease Germs in Air. 

acter of the bacteria found was tested by inoculation into 
animals, thirty-two yielded organisms which were patho- 
genic. 

Messrs. Valenti and Terrari-Lelli found similar results 
in their systematic study of the bacterial contents of the 
air in the city of Modena. In their report they state that 
the narrower and more crowded the streets the greater 
was the number of bacteria present in the air, and the more 
frequently did they meet with varieties associated with septic 
disease. 

Schaffer has shown that leprosy bacilli may be dissemi- 
nated in immense numbers by the coughing of leprosy pa- 
tients, while it has been estimated that 'a tuberculous in- 
valid may discharge a billion tubercle bacilli in the space 
of twenty-four hours, and the dried sputum of consumptive 
persons has actually engendered tuberculous symptoms in 
the lungs of animals which were made to inhale it. In as 
many as 71 per cent of bovine tuberculosis cases the respira- 
tory organs were the seat of the disease. A case is men- 
tioned by the well known veterinary authority, M. Nocard, 
of a whole stall of animals becoming infected through the 
workman attending them being consumptive. He slept in a 
loft over the cows, and his tuberculous sputum in the form 
of dust was conveyed to the stalls beneath and so spread 
the infection. The disease is known to have been spread, 
on the other hand, from animals to men in the same way.* 

It has been found by analysis of air containing large num- 
bers of bacteria that showers greatly reduce their numbers, 
as it reduces the amount of dust in the air, and that pro- 
longed rains may clear the air of dust and bacteria entirely. 
This accords with the action of theVater and wet surfaces 
of sewers in filtering the air of germs, and if the sewers 
and house drains are long and wet enough in proportion to 



•Frankland's "Bacteria in Daily Life. 

131 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the amount of air passing through them, all dust and germs 
may be filtered from this air entirely. 

Laws says "It is really remarkable to find that no or- 
ganisms are given off from the walls of a sewer which has 
been empty and open to the air at both ends for such a 
lengthened period as twelve days. The sewage with which 
the sewer had been kept full for several periods of twenty- 
four hours would contain no less than three to four million 
organisms per cubic centimeter, and immense numbers of 
these must of necessity have been clinging to the walls of 
the sewer. * * * The velocity of the air current used 
in the above experiments was five feet and fifteen feet per 
second, respectively, the latter being far in excess of any 
current that would normally obtain in a sewer." 

"Various experiments," says Roechling, "have been made 
with a view to ascertain how far germs can be carried away 
by air currents in pipes and sewers. Hesse, who first investi- 
gated this point, took a 2-inch glass tube about one yard long, 
the inside of which he had covered with a layer of nutritive 
gelatine, and sucked air through it at a slow rate. When 
examining the tube afterwards he found that a large num- 
ber of bacteria had settled in its first fourth, that the number 
was somewhat less in the second fourth, and that it still 
further decreased in the third fourth, and that no bacteria at 
all had settled in the last fourth." 

Ficker remarks that in his experiments in the Hygienic 
Institute at Breslau a current of air, with the velocity of 
several meters per second, was not able to lift up specific 
germs from half-moist soil, and that a current of the same 
strength was not capable of carrying away germs which 
had dried on several substances and adhered to them. 

Author's Experiments and Suggestions for Improving 
the Air of Cities. 
Various kinds of dust, from fine lint up to fine and coarse 

132 



Disease Germs in Air. 

sawdust, were used successively in my own experiments. 
Dry powdered substances of different kinds, such as whiting 
cement and fine flour, were also used. Bacteria, being tine 
particles of organic matter, resemble these fine dusts in the 
manner in which they may be wafted about on air currents 
and are retained by water. 

In no case could any of the particles which came in con- 
tact with the wet sides of the pipes be seen to be blown off 
again. If any escaped they were too few and small to be 
detected. The bellows were large and strong, capable of 
producing at will either a powerful draught through the 
pipes or a faint and almost imperceptible current. With the 
short pipes it was possible to drive some of the particles 
through in a strong draught because these did not have time 
to come at all in contact with the moistened surfaces, but 
with pipes twenty-five feet long and one and a half inch in 
inside diameter none could be forced through even under a 
pressure strong enough to put out the flame of a candle at 
the further end. Where bends were introduced the same 
result was obtained with shorter pipes. Fig. 51. 

With gentler pressures still shorter pipes sufficed to en- 
tirely filter the air of all particles, however dry and finely 
powdered ; and, in the very slowly moving air currents 
found in the average sewer, a very short travel is sufficient 
to arrest all dust or bacteria of every kind. 

The same experiments were then tried with the pipes 
thoroughly dried on their inner surfaces. In these cases all 
of the dust was easily blown through all the pipes after a 
more or less prolonged application of the air pressure, the 
surfaces of bends arresting for some time some of the par- 
ticles by back eddies, but all eventually passed through. 

With jointed pipes, however, as might be expected, some 
little of the dust and powder would be permanently retained 
in the fine cracks of the joints. 

133 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

The interiors of the pipes were next coated with sewage 
and moistened, and the experiments were repeated under 
these conditions with the same results obtained in the first 
experiments with pipes, moistened with water alone. No 
particles once coming in contact witn the moist surfaces 
could ever be detached again, however strong the air cur- 
rent, so far as could be observed. 

Only the particles of dust which happened to travel from 
end to end in the middle of the air blast escaped from the 
pipes, and, as before said, this only occurred with short 
pipes and in currents stronger than those which prevail in 
ordinary sewers. As has been said, it is generally conceded 
that bacteria may rise through water in the center of bub- 
bles bursting 6n the surface, or in droplets caused by agita- 
tion or spraying. But in well ventilated and properly con- 
structed sewers such splashing and bubbling may be largely 
avoided. But should they occur, the very few bacteria 
thereby escaping into the air of the sewer could only travel 
a short distance, as we have shown, before they would again 
be caught and, if of the pathogenic kind, be quickly de- 
stroyed. 

Finally, the pipes containing the particles of dust of vari- 
ous kinds imprisoned in the moisture and organic refuse 
along their inner surfaces were thoroughly dried by ex- 
posure for several days to the dry air of the laboratory, and 
then the air blasts were repeated to see whether the dried 
particles of matter caked against the walls of the pipes 
would give up the dust and bacteria blown against them 
when they were wet. None of the dust escaped, so far as 
could be seen. Under the most powerful blasts pieces of 
caked refuse would occasionally be torn off the surfaces to 
which they would normally adhere, but these were heavy 
and fell directly to the ground as soon as they were blown 
from the pipes. The dust particles still remained firmly 

134 



Experiments on Passage of Dust-Borne Bacteria. 

imprisoned in these masses of scale and were therefore as 
powerless to do injury as if they had never been detached 
from the part of the pipe against which they originally fell. 
The masses containing the separate particles of dust or bac- 
teria were simply transferred from one part of the pipe 
system to another. The reason for this is obvious. Wet 
sewage, containing many kinds of glutinous and fatty mat- 
ters, forms, when it dries, a more or less pasty mass, which 
hardens into a tenacious cake, and in these experiments 
appeared to hold the dust or bacteria enmeshed in its mass 
as firmly as it did when it was in its moist state. 

Thus we see that the sewers really form vast filters, as it 
were, for clearing the air which passes through them of 
germs of disease, and it is the province of the science of 
sanitary engineering to make the most of this wonderful 
.provision of nature in man's behalf by co-operating with 
her methods and increasing to the utmost extent the ven- 
tilation of the sewers and drains. 

We know, for instance, that, especially in times of epi- 
demics, the air of the streets contains many disease germs. 
If we could erect in front of our windows and doors con- 
tinuously moistened filters of such a construction that no 
particle of air could enter the house without first coming in 
direct contact with some part of the moist surface of the 
filter, and if the filter could be provided with a germicide 
maintained constantly active, it is certain not only that the 
inmates of these houses would be shielded from the diseases 
conveyed by germs as long as they remained within the 
protection of the filters, but also that the germs themselves 
in the locality would gradually be diminished in numbers 
until, if the traps were numerous enough, all might ulti- 
mately be destroyed. 

Now the sewers form precisely such filters, and if copi- 
ously ventilated by pure air currents induced by making 

135 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

every house drain a suction pipe, no offensive odor could 
come from the sewers, and all the air thus drawn in from 
the streets would be freed from dust and germs. 

How short-sighted and foolish it is, then, to legislate 
against such beneficent ventilation and purification by re- 
quiring a barrier to be interposed at every house drain out- 
let, by which the only really practicable way of thoroughly 
ventilating the sewers is prevented. 

There is no way known of setting up such screens as I 
have described in front of our windows. But it is easily 
possible to utilize the sewers already provided for us and 
equipped with a most marvelously effective dust arrester 
and germicide. 

I do not say that with such perfectly constructed and 
ventilated sewers as these it would be wise in times of epi- 
demics to nail up our windows and ventilate from the sewers, 
because the house drains and soil pipes will always contain 
foul gases, which it will justify the use of our best science 
to exclude from the house, and because the smallest of the 
city sewers would have to be enlarged for such service to 
the size of a Hoosac tunnel. But I do say that any air 
which might accidentally enter the house through them 
would be safer to breathe, so far as disease germs are con- 
cerned, than that which would enter through the windows, 
and that no odor would enter the house from the sewers 
themselves, however much might be generated in the pri- 
vate drains, because the warmth of the sewage and of the 
house would always create an upward draught in cold 
weather and fresh air would enter the sewers through the 
street openings everywhere provided for it. In hot weather 
citizens could take their choice between disease germs from 
the windows and an occasional odor from the private drain. 

Supposing, now, that the houses of an average city aver- 
age twenty-five feet in width on the street lines, if we were 

136 



Author's Suggestion for Filtering the Air of Cities. 

to ventilate the sewers through every house drain we should 
have suction openings every twelve and one-half feet into 
the sewers, and these drains being four inches in diameter, 
we should have about twelve and one-half square inches of 
suction area for every twelve and one-half feet of sewer, 
or one square inch for every foot of sewer in a city. For 
supplying the air to the sewers corresponding street open- 
ings would be provided. 

If we assume an average of twenty-five miles of streets 
in every square mile of a city we have for a city containing 
ioo miles of street about 528,000 square inches or 3,666 
square feet area of sewer ventilation, which would be equiv- 
alent to a round ventilating flue sixty-eight feet in diameter 
or to 130 round flues six feet in diameter each. 

Supposing the average height of the houses in our city 
to be fifty feet, and that the quantity of air discharged per 
minute through the 4-inch ducts of the 42,240 houses in 
our city of a mile square be estimated. Assuming that 
these ducts draw up the air at the rate of 419 feet per min- 
ute per square foot of ventilating area for an average dif- 
ference of temperature in winter between the air of the 
house and that of the street of 30 F. (calculated under the 



(>-') 



formula V=240^f ^— — — in which V stands for the 
^ 491.4 

velocity of the current, h the height of the building, t t the 
interior and t the exterior temperature, and allowing 50 
per cent for loss by friction), we have a ventilation pro- 
duced by all the 42,240 ducts of 1,536,054 cubic feet of air 
per minute. 

Allowing five occupants for each house, we have some- 
what over 200,000 inhabitants in our city of a mile square 
and our sewer ventilation would thus filter the air at the 
rate of over seven cubic feet per minute for every inhabit- 

137 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation, 

ant, or if we make a much larger allowance for friction 
and assume a smaller difference of temperature between the 
inner and outer air, we have a sewer ventilation of say from 
one to five cubic feet of air per minute for each inhabitant. 
The warmth of the sewage produced by the introduction of 
warm water into the drains would under these circumstances 
always produce suitable ventilation even in the summer 
months. 

Thus the sewer ventilation produced by the omission of 
the main house trap and its vent would not only be the 
most perfect that can be devised, but it would reduce the 




Fig- 51. Apparatus for determining the degree of retention of bac 
teria by the moist surface of sewers and drains. 



cost of the whole sewerage system by a large percentage, 
in fact, over half a million dollars in our city of a mile 
square. In rebuilding the city of San Francisco probably 
several millions could be saved in this manner. 

Fig. 51 shows our glass and metal sewer and drain pipe 
as arranged for the lecture room. The measured pile of 
dust to be experimented with is shown at the bellows end 
x>i the pipe. The first opening provided with a stopper is 
for the introduction of the dust. The other openings are 
to permit of tests being made upon short or long pipes and 
upon straight or bent pipes, as desired. 

The arrows indicate the direction of the air currents 

138 



Author's Suggestion for Filtering the Air of Cities. 

and the manner in which the dust particles are blown 
against the moist inner surfaces of the pipes to which they 
adhere. The bend in the middle of the pipe may be placed 
either horizontally or vertically. When vertical it becomes 
a trap and arrests, when full of water, all dust and germs. 



139 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Sewers. 




Figures 52 and 53 represent 
sections of large Paris sewers. 
They carry both the house drain- 
age of all kinds and the street 
washings and rain or storm 
water. They come under the 
"combined" system of sewerage 
as distinguished from the "sepa- 
rate" system in which rain water 
is separated from the house 
wastes. 

The egg-shaped sewer (Fig. 
50, initial cut) is the usual form 
now employed. Where a flat 
invert is used, as in Fig. 50, 
greater convenience is obtained 
for cleaning the flat portion, giving better foothold for the 
men. But for the conveyance of small quantities of sew- 
age the regular tgg form is better. 

The section, Fig. 53, shows a form of sewer in which 
the gas pipes are submerged in a channel on one side filled 
with water to prevent leakage of gas. 

The advantage of the separate system is that the flow is 
uniform and the dilution of the sewage is at its minimum, 
in which condition the valuable manurial part can be sepa- 
rated and the water purified and emptied into rivers or the 
ocean at a minimum of expense. In places where the grades 
are such that the rain water can be carried off in surface 



Fig. 



52. Section of Paris 
sewers. 



140 



Sewers. 

gutters to the ocean or river courses, the expense of the 
separate system is obviously much less than would be the 
combined. But where a double system of sewers would be 
required, as, for instance, in Paris, the cost would be greatly 
increased. The section in Fig. 55 shows a method by which 
the separate system might be used in a single sewer pipe, 
the drain water being shown in its maximum flow in the 
larger conduit and the house sewage in the smaller. By 
carrying the rain water pipes from the street gutters over 





Fig:. 53. Section 
Paris sewers. 



Fig. 50. Section 

of Egg-Shaped 

Sewer. 



the house drainage conduit the position of their outlets 
might be so adjusted with reference to the latter that the 
first washings of the street would fall into it, and the storm 
water, as the storm increased in volume, would afterwards 
leap over it and fall into the larger conduit. 

Whatever system be adopted, the sewer should be venti- 
lated sufficiently often to render the air in the sewer per- 
fectly pure, and such ample light should be provided as to 
give the double advantage of convenience of inspection and 
the freedom from the undesirable anaerobic germs to which 
strong light is inimical. 

Frankland shows in a plate we have reproduced in Fig. 
56 in a very interesting manner, the effect of sunlight on 

141 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



disease germs. He placed the letters spelling the name of 
the particular disease germ upon which he experimented, 
cut out of opaque paper, upon a plate of gelatine inoculated 
with the germ, and exposed the plate to diffused sunlight. 
The germs protected by the paper letters multiplied rapidly, 
while all those in the unprotected parts of the plate were 




Fig. 55. Writer's method of combining both conduits of the 
separate system of sewerage in a single sewer. 

destroyed, so that when the paper had been removed the 
disease germs had written their own autograph, as shown 
in the picture. 

Ample lighting as well as ample ventilation is a sanitary 
measure everywhere. 

142 



Sewers. 

The inner surfaces of all sewers should be lined with 
glazed materials; and in large sewers with white glazed or 
enameled tiles to increase the light reflection and insure 
greater cleanliness. 

Now that draught animals in our streets are gradually 
being supplanted by machine motors, the streets will soon 
be paved with smooth materials and be kept perfectly clean. 




Autograph of cholera germs. 



This will tend to greatly simplify sewerage and effect a 
much more general adoption of the separate system en- 
abling us to come much nearer the ideal of waste water 
purification and recovery of its useful manurial part, at a 
minimum of outlay. 

Figs. 57 and 58 show old Paris sewers, the illustrations 

143 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

being taken from Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables." These 
sewers carried the storm waters and house drainage with 
the exception of part of the W. C. refuse which was at that 
time almost exclusively collected in cesspools. Today the 
cesspools are gradually being removed and everything will 
soon be conducted directly into the sewers. The waste from 
the street urinals and the liquid overflow from the house 
cesspools was, however, taken into the sewers long before 
the crusade against cesspools was undertaken. Nevertheless 
the sewage today contains probably far more water in pro- 
portion to the bacteria within than it did at the time of Jean 
Valjean, because the supply of water to the closets fully 
offsets any additional impurity they furnished. Moreover, 
sink water and urine form the most dangerous parts of the 
house water. But the unscientific manner in which these 
old sewers were constructed and operated made them little 
better than elongated cesspools, as compared with the mag- 
nificent and cleanly conduits they appear today. 

In 1882 Paris still had 80,000 cesspools and 30,000 shal- 
low drinking water wells, most of which were contaminated 
and entirely unfit for use. 

These pictures show the appearance of the old Paris 
sewers in 1805, when Bruneseau visited them with a view to 
their improvement. Fig. 57 presents the engineer making 
what Victor Hugo calls "the formidable campaign" — the 
"nocturnal battle against asphyxia and plague." Eight out 
of the twenty workmen gave up the battle in the middle 
of it. The ladders for measuring would sink three feet deep 
in mud, and the lanterns would scarcely burn in the mephitic 
atmosphere, the men fainting from time to time. There 
were horrible pits in the ground in which one man suddenly 
disappeared. The walls were hanging with fungi. Among 
other things they found the skeleton of an ourang-outang, 
which had disappeared from the Jardin des Plants in 1800 

144 



Sewers. 




Fig. 57. Bruneseau visiting the old Paris sewers. 



145 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




Fig. 



58. Junction of old Paris sewers. 
Miserables." 



From Hugo's "1-es 



146 



Sewers. 

and drowned itself in the sewer. They found, also, on the 
other hand, valuable objects, coins, gold and silver, jewelry 
and precious stones. 

Fig. 58 gives the point of junction of several of these 
old sewers, described by Hugo as "winding, cracked, un- 
paved, full of pits, broken by strange elbows, ascending and 
descending illogically, fetid, savage, ferocious, submerged 
in darkness, with gashes on its stones and scars on its 
walls." 

The various methods of sewage purification now in opera- 
tion in various parts of the world have shown the water 
carriage system of disposal to be far in advance of any dry 
system. 

Erwin F. Smith in his treatise on "The Influence of 
Sewerage and Water Supply on the Death Rate in Cities," 
read at the sanitary convention in Michigan, July, 1885,* 
shows by charts I, II and III the reduction of the death 
rate of cities occasioned by the introduction of sewerage 
systems, and in spite of their antiquity they form as pow- 
erful arguments in favor of good sewerage as can be found. 

His conclusions are: 

(1) Typhoid fever and cholera decrease in proportion as 
a city is well sewered. 

(2) There is no direct relation between diphtheria and 
sewers. 

(3) The general death rate falls after the sewering of a 
city, and, other things being equal, never again reaches the 
maximum of its anti-sewered condition. 

(4) The cost of building and maintaining sanitary works 
is inconsiderable, in comparison with the direct pecuniary 
loss, by sickness and death, which their absence entails. 



♦Reprinted from Supplement to Annual Report Michigan State 
Board of Health. 



147 



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150a 



Approximate Estimate of the Comparative Average 

Cost of Plumbing Work Under the Present 

Complicated and the New Simple System 




Complicated 
System 




Simple 
System 
Simple in Alter- 
System ations 



In considering the various items of compar- 
ative cost of plumbing under the old and new 
systems we may classify the chief items of 
simplification as follows: — 

(1) The back venting of traps should be 
prohibited. In estimating the saving which would 
come from this item we find that no close fig- 
ure can be given without making a very exten- 
sive study cf the different conditions involved, 
aided by exhaustive statistics. Very high build- 
ings would require, for effective back venting, 

such an increase of size of pipe for each ad- 
ditional story to overcome friction, that the 
cost of the back vent pipes would far exceed 
that of the waste pipes. In buildings of the 
average height the cost should about equal 
that of the waste pipes. We may take Figs. 
264 and 265 for fair examples of the two meth- 
ods of piping for such buildings, except that 
in Fig. 264 the back vent pipes have not been 
sufficientlv enlarged in the upper stories. (See 
Chap. XLIV.) 

(2) Flexible joints and "Standard" thick- 
ness of pipes should be substituted for "lead caulked and rigid joints 
with "Extra heavy" thickness. "Standard" thick cast-iron pipes 
weigh about half as much as "Extra heavy," and the cost of the 
former, considering the comparativelv high cost of hand caulking is 
less than half that of- the latter. See Note on pages 694 and 695. 

(3) The use of the main house trap and its foot vents and other 
piping involved should be prohibited. The percentage of saving in 
this item depends upon the amount, of piping which would be con- 
sidered by different persons as necessitated by the use of this dis- 
connecting trap. It would sometimes amount to a very large sum. 

(4) The law calling for separate traps under each of several 
connecting fixtures should be modified. This would also sometimes 
amount to quite a . large percentage, especially where back venting 
is difficult. 

(5) The law requiring water closet rooms to be ventilated by spe- 
cial air shafts lighted by external windows should be modified to per- 
mit of their ventilation through effective ventilating pipes or ducts. 
This requirement sometimes involves the loss of exceedingly valua- 
ble room and outer wall space without any advantage, as explained 
in detail on pages 595 to 598, and the average saving possible in this 
item runs up to a very high figure. 

(6) The law forbidding soil pipes to serve also as rain water 
conductors should be changed where the combined system of sew- 
erage is used. This would there save one or more stacks of large 
pipes from roof to basement. 

(7) The use of the hydraulic test for piping should be prohib- 
ited, because, while very expensive and altogether useless, it puts a 
strain on the piping far beyond what could ever be encountered in 
practice, and which, like excessive boiler pressure tests, for instance, 
may result either in destroying the property at once, or in develop- 
ing unseen defects liable to appear disastrously in the future. 

Taking all these large items together, and several smaller ones 
not here mentioned, the author believes the relative costs of the 
two systems of plumbing may be fairly represented by the compara- 
tive sizes of the squares shown in our initial cut. (See Chap. XLIV.) 



150 b 



CHAPTER IX. 




Fie 62. Old English 
D Trap, styled the 
"Goose" Trap, prob- 
ably in honor or the 
man who invented it 



Traps. 

\ trap is a siphon placed in the 
dram to catch some of 'the water 
discharged from a fixture and form 
with it a barrier for the .entrance 
of air from the drains into the 
house. The water forms what is 
called the trap "seal." In addition 
to the water seal some form ot 
mechanical closure has sometimes 
been added in the form of a valve, gate or ball ^ the 
suDDOSition that a water seal alone could not afford surhcient 

seal becomes entirely superfluous. 

The four principal enemies of the water seals of traps 
are^iphonage (which is the suction acting on trap seals 
^Tced by a partial vacuum in the waste pipe behmd 
a falling plug of water discharged from a fixture), evap 
oration back pressure and clogging by sediment accu- 
"Sn ThL enemies of trap seals will be examined 
in full detail in subsequent chapters. 

Under the supposition that all traps are liable to lose 
Under tne -W 4 honage momentum and back 

the,r " or Sw of thttraSmisfion of gas bubbles under 
rcr^^urfuIlefsVotected by special ventilation, the 

151 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

"back vent" law was passed requiring a separate vent pipe 
to be carried from the outgo of every trap into a special 
ventilation duct, independent of the soil pipe ventilator, up 
as far as to a point above its connection with the highest 
fixture. At the time when this provision was framed no 
simple and reliable self-cleansing water trap was known 
which could resist the severest tests of siphonage, momen- 
tum and back pressure which might be encountered in 
plumbing. 

Had such a trap been known, as is now the case, the back 
vent law would obviously never have been made. 

The common round or "pot" trap, though not self-cleans- 
ing, can nevertheless be made large enough to be practically 
proof against siphonage, and it may be periodically cleaned 
by hand if it is found to clog with sediment ; but no trap, 
and least of all the S trap, can resist the destructive effect 
on its seal of the rapid evaporation produced by the ven- 
tilating current required by this law. The seal is destroyed 
by evaporation in a very short time, varying with the rapid- 
ity and dryness of the current and the volume of water in 
the trap. 

Special trap venting is now considered undesirable for 
many other reasons which give rise to dangers much greater 
than that which it pretends to remove, the danger from 
evaporation, for instance, being, as houses are now plumbed, 
much greater than that from siphonage. Traps are left in 
disuse, and subject to the danger of loss of seal by evapora- 
tion much oftener than is generally supposed. Thus they 
are unused in city houses which are left unoccupied during 
summer; in country houses which are unoccupied during 
winter ; in hotels and apartment houses during the quiet 
seasons, or at times when they are only partly filled ; in 
private houses in the spare chambers reserved for visitors ; 
in business offices between the expiration and renewal of 

152 



Traps. 

their leases ; in schoolhouses and all public and private office 
buildings at times of vacation ; in houses or chambers closed 
on account of the absence of their owners for travel, sick- 
ness, death or any other cause ; in case of drought, or "cut- 
off" of water supply for repairs of pipes, rebuilding or other 
cause ; in extra fixtures in houses, and in other places, and 
at other times which will, upon reflection, occur to the 
reader. In a few days after a trap has thus been abandoned 
to the influence of the ventilating current, the time varying 
with the dryness and velocity of the current and with the 
volume and amount of exposed surface in the body of the 
trap, its seal will be destroyed by evaporation. 

Corrosion of well-flushed waste pipes of moderate length 
by sewer air is never to be feared with ventilated soil pipes. 
It is believed that there is no authenticated case on record 
of such corrosion. Indeed, the induction through the 
branch pipes of soil pipe air is by no means an advantage 
when ample pure air from the room is available after every 
flushing from a properly constructed fixture. When the 
main soil pipe is properly ventilated the diffusion of gases, 
the absorptive power of water for gases, and the frequent 
water flow through branch pipes afford them sufficient pro- 
tection when the pipes are in use. When the pipes are not 
in use the waste matters adhering to their inner surfaces 
dry up, and it is believed that what decomposition then takes 
place goes on so slowly that its corrosive effect on the pipe 
is practically inappreciable. We have shown that besides 
the constant draught on the water seal by evaporation, the 
vent pipe increases the unscoured area of the trap, and if 
any portion of a trap not directly scoured by water passing 
through it is liable to collect sediment, and ultimately clog 
up, then the mouth of the vent pipe is also subject to this 
danger. It thus, in a measure, defeats one of its own ob- 
jects — i. e., to provide a safe trap which shall be self-cleans- 

153 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

ing and contain no chamber or corner which shall not re- 
ceive the full scour of the water passing through this trap. 
Now, the ventilating openings of traps having been so often 
found clogged and even completely closed by sediment, we 
see that this precaution is no certain protection against 
siphonage and momentum. 

CLASSIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS OF TRAPS. 

A proper trap should possess the following character- 
istics : 

(i) It should do its work by means of a water seal alone. 

(2) It should be self-scouring. 

(3) It should be capable of resisting the severest strains 
of siphonage, momentum and back pressure that can ever 
possibly be brought to bear upon it in properly constructed 
plumbing, even when this plumbing is unscientifically used 
by the occupants, and this without the aid of special trap 
ventilation. 

(4) It should contain a body of water large enough to 
be practically proof against evaporation. 

(5) It should be simple, of durable material and econom- 
ical to manufacture, with smooth porcelain enameled 
surfaces. 

(6) It should be so constructed that its interior can be 
inspected without removing the trap. 

(7) It should have a tight- fitting, easily accessible clean- 
out cap, to admit of removing easily any valuable or foreign 
substance that may have lodged in any part of it. 

(8) It should ofTer the minimum of resistance to the 
flow of water through it. 

(9) It should be ornamental in appearance. 

(10) Finally, it should be independent of the fixture to 
which it is attached and should be easily connected or dis- 
connected. 

154 



Traps. 

At first thought it would seem as if some of the above 
requirements were incompatible or even positively antag- 
onistic. How can a trap which is perfectly self-scouring 
and simple be made to resist the most powerful action of 
siphonage, momentum or back pressure without the aid of 
some mechanical seal? It is nevertheless possible to obtain 
this result, and the manner in which it is done will be shown 
hereafter. 

CLASSIFICATION OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF TRAPS. 

Traps may be divided into two principal classes : 

I. Mechanical traps. 

II. Water seal traps. 

Each of these may be again subdivided as follows : 

I. Mechanical traps may be subdivided into: 

(a) Hinged-valve trap. 

(b) Gravity-valve trap. 

(c) Floating-ball trap. 

(d) Gravity-ball trap. 

(e) Mercury seal trap. 

II. Water seal traps may be subdivided into: 

(a) Sediment traps. 

(b) Self-cleansing traps. 

These two classes may again be subdivided as follows : 

(a) Sediment traps may be subdivided into: 
(i) Air-vent traps. 

(2) Reservoir traps. 

(b) Self-cleansing traps may be subdivided into: 

(1) Siphonable trap. 

(2) Anti-siphon trap. 

Finally self -cleansing anti-siphon traps may again be sub- 
divided into: 

(a) Deep seal traps. 

(b) Shallow seal traps. 

155 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



Mechanical Seal Traps. 

Mechanical closures 
alone, without the water 
seal, are of as little use 
in plumbing traps, in 
excluding sewer gas, as 
could be the mechanism 
shown in Fig. 63, which 
shows the peculiar form 
of mechanical trap found 
under all the sinks of a 
tenement house whose 
landlady had received 
orders from the Board 
of Health to have "traps 
put under every plumb- 
ing fixture." The old 
&£ lady obeyed the order 
j^t to the letter, but in do- 
ing so exposed an igno- 
rance of household sani- 
tation so dense that even 
the rats themselves be- 
came rudely derisive and 
hilarious. They carried 

Pif. 63. Peculiar form of trap r nP i r ridirnle so far as 

found under the sinks of a tene- uieir riaiCUie SO iar as 

ment house whose landlady had * n withdraw the rhppse 

received notice from the Board of lU >\ linaraw tne cneese 

Health to have traps put under f rorn rnp trans hv means 

every plumbing fixture. irom me iraps Dy means 

of skewers in order to 
demonstrate the futility of mechanical gates in traps. Two 
investigators climbed up into the sink to ascertain the result 
of the woman's stupidity and, in still further contempt, sim- 
ulated instant death, as you see, from the "deadly" sewer 
gas which emanated from the unprotected waste pipe, while 

156 




Traps. 

four others were obliged to hold their sides to prevent them 
from splitting with their vulgar laughter. 

These almost incredible facts are recorded to show the as- 
tonishing amount of ignorance displayed by the public of 
the functions of traps and plumbing work generally. All 
our good lady knew about drainage was that she emptied 
slops into the sink, and that the slops then went "the devil 
knew where." 

Mechanical seal traps, like pan, valve and plunger water- 
closets, have served their purpose, and must now be laid 
aside in the general march of progress. 

Before the necessity of ventilating the main soil pipe was 
felt, and when the science of plumbing was still more un- 
developed, back pressure in every trap from the sewers was 
a thing to be guarded against where the sewers were foul, 
and balls, gates and valves in traps were invented to supply 
an actual want. Now, however, the universal and most de- 
sirable custom of ventilating every stack of soil pipes, and a 
better understanding of the hydraulics and pneumatics of 
plumbing has done away with this requirement, and the me- 
chanical seal serves no longer any other purpose than to ob- 
struct the proper flow of the waste water through the pipe, 
and to collect sediment, besides causing a false sense of secur- 
ity in case of evaporation or siphonage of the water seal. It is 
evident that the mechanical seal is entirely superfluous, since 
everything a trap is required to do can be done by other 
better and simpler means. Moreover, we cannot apply me- 
chanical seals to water-closet traps, and this fact alone 
shows the uselessness of applying them to smaller traps, 
since we must rely on the water seal alone in some of the 
fixtures in all houses. 

It has been claimed by some makers of ball traps that the 
rotary movement of the ball in the water scours the sides 
of the trap and prevents the collection of sediment, just as 

157 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

shot when shaken up in a bottle will aid in cleansing it. 
This is, however, not the fact, as both experience and theory 
have proved. Ball traps which have for some time remained 
more than usually clear of sediment owe their cleanliness, 
not to the movement of the ball, but to the scouring action 
of the water, which proves, to a certain extent, effective in 
spite of the ball. The ball breaks, more or less, the force 
of the water flowing through the trap, and by just so much 
diminishes its scouring effect. To claim the reverse is an 
evident absurdity calculated only to mislead, and is easily 
disproved by practical experiment and by examining ball 
traps which have been in use for a short time. Many make 
the mistake of supposing that, because shot or any similar 
substance will help cleanse a vessel when the vessel is 
shaken, the mere presence of the bodies in the vessel will do 
the same under a current of water. This is a mistake. We 
cannot violently shake up the trap on a fixture as we do a 
detached bottle, and a current of water powerful enough to 
shake up the shot or ball without such movement of the ves- 
sel would easily shake up and remove any other sediment 
which might pass into the trap. 

When traps are so connected up with flexible pipes that 
they can be violently shaken every few days, as our grand- 
fathers tell us the old-fashioned schoolmaster was accus- 
tomed to shake up unruly boys for the purpose of remov- 
ing their cussedness from them, the trap ball may be made 
to serve the same purpose, and will perhaps be equally ef- 
fective. Until that time the water flushing will be retarded 
by every form of obstruction in the trap, whether inten- 
tional or accidental, and a current of water powerful 
enough to shake up the ball effectively will easily shake 
up and remove any other sediment entering the trap, as we 
have said. Coarse sand, gravel, coffee grounds or similar 
sharp substances in the waste water will add to its scour- 

158 



Traps. 

ing effect in removing grease from the pipes ; but this is 
due to the momentum acquired in falling with the water 
from the fixture, and to the sharp, cutting edges of the 
substances. Thus tea leaves, having no sharp edges, when 
admitted with the waste water, serve only to clog the pipes. 

But coffee grounds, though often recommended, are not 
regularly stored away by the thrifty housekeeper for flush- 
ing drains. She would prefer a well-formed fixture, con- 
structed as will hereafter be explained, which will do the 
work for her more scientifically and reliably. 

A slimy filth, or a thick, matted coat composed of de- 
composing organic matter, collects around the ball or valve 
and their chamber in greater or less quantity, according 
to the size and strength of the water flow through the 
trap. Hairs and lint soon collect under and stick to the 
working parts and prevent their closing tightly, and hinges 
corrode in the vapor or water until the mechanism refuses 
to close at all beyond a certain point. Their obstructive 
power gradually increases until even what little cleansing 
power the water possessed at the outset may be entirely 
destroyed. The mechanical seals of traps are valueless as 
regards siphonage, because this action takes place in the 
direction in which the mechanical obstructions open. Im- 
munity from the evil effects of siphonage depends, as will 
be hereafter shown, entirely upon the form and dimen- 
sions of the waterway of the trap. 

It is sometimes claimed by the manufacturers that the 
presence of a hollow elastic ball in a trap would prevent 
bursting should the water in the trap freeze. If the ball 
extended from the top to the bottom of the trap and its 
sediment chamber, it might protect it from the effects of 
frost. But this is not the case. Above and below the ball 
the freezing water is evidently no more affected by the 
ball than if the trap contained no water except in these 

159 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

places. Experience proves this to be the case, for the 
hollow ball traps burst like other traps when exposed to 
frost severe enough to freeze suddenly the water beyond 
the parts occupied by the ball, and to break a glass of 
the same form and size not containing a ball. 

In our drawings illustrating various types of traps in 
use, all the traps have been drawn to substantially the 
same scale and size of inlet pipe, so that their relative 
sizes can at once be seen. This will prove very useful 
in enabling us to judge of their merits, especially as far 




Fig. 64 



as concerns the probable scouring effect of the water cur- 
rent on their walls. 

(a) Hinged-Valve Trap. 
Figs. 64, 64 bis and 65 show three forms of the hinged 
valve. If the valves in these traps could only be main- 
tained clean and operative, they would somewhat protect the 
water seal from evaporation produced by the ventilating 
current. The swellings in the bodies of these traps very 
slightly increase their power of resistance to siphonage, but 

160 



Traps. 

the enlargement would have to be carried much further be- 
fore they could be safely used without ventilation, and the 
retardation of the water passage due to the valve would 
then increase the rapidity of fouling inevitable with all 
forms of pot traps. The hinged valve is the worst kind of 
mechanical closure that can be used in the smaller house 
traps, the slightest corrosion or sediment at the hinge ren- 
dering the mechanism inoperative. 

(b) Gravity Valve Trap. 
Fig. 66 shows a valve trap invented by Col. Waring, but 
afterwards frankly condemned by him in his general con- 





; * 



Fig. 67. 



demnation of all mechanical traps. The valve chamber is, 
however, reduced to a minimum, and the trap in operation 
is perhaps as a whole as self-scouring as any mechanical 
seal trap known. The arrangement of the valve is such 
as to preserve the water seal of the trap for a considerable 
time, even under a powerful ventilating current. Siphon- 
age unseals it, nevertheless, quite easily. This and other 
mechanical seal traps would be useful on account of their 



161 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

power of resisting the back pressure were there no simpler 
means of accomplishing the same result. 

Fig. 67 represents a trap which has enjoyed a great pop- 
ularity. In resistance to siphonage it is equal to a bottle 
trap of the same size, but has the advantage in this respect 
over such a bottle trap that when the water seal is broken 
the ball would still float up against its seal, and form under 
some circumstances a partial seal of itself. Unfortunately 
the roughness of the ball surface or of any form of mechan- 
ical closure would prevent its providing proper protection 
against the passage of sewer air in such a case. 

Under the ventilating current produced by back venting 
this type of trap suffers precisely as much as an ordinary 
bottle trap holding the same quantity of water, the evap- 
oration proceeding from the sewer side. The ball affords 
no protection against evaporation because it is on the house 
side where the evaporation is so slow as to be practically 
negligible compared with the sewer side. The amount of 
water which the ball displaces more than offsets the delay 
to evaporation caused by its partial closure of the inlet pipe. 
(d) Gravity Ball Trap. 

Figs. 68 to 73 represent different forms of gravity ball 
traps, or traps in which the mechanical seal is formed by 
a ball resting on the top of a bend in the inlet pipe, and 
partially closing the passageway by its weighty bulk. The 
seal, as in all mechanical traps, is dependent upon the ac- 
curacy of the fit of the valve or ball and its seat. This fit 
is never absolutely air tight, even when new, as may be 
seen by emptying a new trap of its water, and, when quite 
dry, testing it for the passage of air or gas between the 
mechanical closure and its seat. However smooth and ac- 
curate their surfaces may appear to the eye, the particles 
forming them are colossal masses, as will be seen under a 
microscope, compared with the infinitesimal atoms forming 

162 



Traps. 



the elements of air and gas, which defy the highest magni- 
fying power to render them visible. These surfaces, rough 
as they are, even when new, as compared with the sub- 
stances they are intended to exclude, very soon become still 
rougher by the deposit of a sediment composed of all kinds 
of impurities carried by the waste water, so that the fit can 
never be ti^ht, of whatever substances the valve and seat 




Pig. 71. Fig. 72. Fig. 73. 

be made. When somewhat stiffened with age the sphere 
becomes still more defective in shape, and its weight can- 
not press out the irregularities of the surfaces. When the 
valve and seat are wet, a seal may sometimes be formed 
against the passage of air, but the seal is due to the water 
and not to the valve, and the water seal alone would be 
equally efficient, since, as we have already seen, we have 

163 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

to do with air and gases in their normal condition and not 
under pressure. None of these traps are siphon proof unless 
ventilated. Like the gravity valve, they resist evaporation 
under the ventilating current for a long time, and in this 
respect are better than the floating ball trap, for the gravity 
ball and valves, as will be seen by referring to the drawings, 
hinder the ventilating current from licking up the water 
seal beneath the ball. The floating ball offers no such re- 
sistance. Evaporation goes on as rapidly as if no ball ex- 
isted. This is, under the present law requiring special trap 
ventilation, a matter of great importance, though one which 
is generally overlooked in comparing mechanical seal traps 
with one another. 

Fig. 82 represents a gravity ball or valve trap designed 
for kitchen sinks. It is intended to take the place of the 
unfortunate bell trap, now so universally condemned. 

It consists of a lead receiver with a brass grating on top. 
The receiver holds about half an inch of water, into which 
the hollow valve or ball dips. The valve has a circular rim 
around its bottom, corresponding to the groove in the re- 
ceiver which holds the few drops of water, and with it forms 
the feeble seal. The quantity of water is so small that evap- 
oration easily destroys the seal in a short time, even without 
special vent. The trap is extremely liable to become clogged 
with the substances passing through kitchen sinks. This 
often leads to a removal, by ignorant servants, of both valve 
and strainer, which, of course, destroys the seal. Such a 
trap is little better than the ordinary bell trap, even though 
there is the slight advantage claimed for it by Baldwin 
Latham that the bell is not attached to the strainer. All such 
forms of sink traps are to be unconditionally condemned. 

Figs. 83 and 84 represent the ordinary bell sink trap, and 
Fig. 85 is an improvement thereon in having the water 
seal independent of the grating. In both of these traps 
the water seal is too small. Both are destroyed by the 

164 



' if 

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k 111 


\\3 

\ 


\jffTf\ 




Pig. 74. 





Fig. 80. 



Fio. 143.— Turner's Trap, 



Fig. 75 




Fis. 79. 



165 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

slightest disturbance of atmospheric pressure in the 
waste pipes, and are condemned by all sanitarians. 

This trap, Fig. 81, is far too expensive and complicated 
ever to become popular or practical, and is no less of a 
cesspool than the common round or pot trap,which is equally 
effective in excluding sewer air. The seal of this trap can- 
not be broken by siphonage, nor can that of a pot trap, if it 
be made large enough. 

Yet the law requires the ventilation of both of these 
traps. The mercury seal trap must be constructed of some 
material not easily corroded by mercury or water. 

Figs. 74 to 79 show five more ball traps, described by Mr. 
Gerhard. The first has a double gravity valve. "A glass 
in the upper side of the trap," says Mr. Gerhard, ''enables 
one to inspect the working of the ball valves, which is as 
follows : When in rest there is, in addition to the water seal, 
a mechanical seal, which is half immersed in water. The 
second ball valve at the outlet also shuts off by its weight, 
but in case of undue pressure this would tend to lift the 
ball, leaving around it a waterway through which the water 
flows out. In rising, the first ball touches the second ball, 
which is also lifted, to allow the water to pass freely. As 
soon as the discharge ceases, both valves drop back into 
their seat." Under siphonage the valve nearest the outlet, 
and under back pressure that on the inlet side, will close, 
and so long as the trap continues clean these balls would 
aid in protecting the seal. But better methods have now 
been devised for accomplishing this, and the two balls form 
a double impediment to the water scour. 

The remaining drawings in this slide show Mr. Gerhard's 
improvements in ball traps, which at that time were val- 
uable, but which have since been supplanted by improved 
water seal* The last is certainly ingenious and as good a 



*Wm. Paul Gerhard "Drainage and Sewerage of Dwellings." Win. 
Comstock, N. Y. 

166 



Traps. 

mechanical trap as could be devised for resisting siphonage 
or back pressure. 

Figs. 86, 87 and 89 represent the McClellan Trap Vent, a 
simple device to take the place of the back vent pipe. Figs. 
86 to 88 give sections of the device, and Fig. 89 shows the 
manner in which it is connected up with different fixtures. 
Siphoning action lifts a small cup out of a mercury seal and 
allows air to pass from the room under the cup as shown 
by the arrows to break the partial vacuum in the soil pipe. 
This device is much better than back venting. But where 
grease would accumulate in the throat of the back vent pipe 
it would here, and the mechanical parts are open to the ob- 
jections already referred to in other mechanical traps. 




Fig. 66. 



Fig. 89. 



167 




Fig. 90. Common 
"Pot." "Round" or 
"Cesspool" Trap. 



CHAPTER XL 

Water Seal Traps. 

1UATER seal traps bear the same rela- 
tion to mechanical traps that the 
hopper water-closet bears to pan, 
valve and plunger closets. They ac- 
complish their work of removing the 
wastes and excluding sewer gas 
much more perfectly by the simple 
action of the flushing stream, and by 
the water seal which it forms, than 
do the complicated machines already 
described, and they must be placed 
far ahead of them. Here again the 
leading sanitarians are in accord ; but as is the case with 
hopper closets, so it is with water seal traps, there is the 
greatest difference in the manner in which the different 
kinds perform their duties. 

Our first general division of water seal traps is into (a) 
Sediment or Cesspool Traps, and (b) Self-Cleansing 
Traps. 

(a) Sediment Traps. — Sediment traps may be designated 
as those whose inner surfaces are not cleaned by the scour 
of the water passing through them, but which gradually be- 
come coated with a deposit of filth. The deposit is due to 
the improper form and size of the water passages, which 
sometimes cause the current to pass through them slug- 
gishly and without exerting upon them sufficient friction to 
keep them clean, and sometimes furnish chambers or pock- 
ets in which no movement at all takes place. 

We have subdivided sediment traps into (i) Air- Vent 
Traps, and (2) Reservoir Traps. 



168 



Traps. 



(i) Air-Vent Traps. 
Fig. 91 represents a trap having an air valve. The ex- 
clusion of soil-pipe air, therefore, depends entirely upon the 
accuracy of the fit of this valve alone, without the aid of 
water. We have already explained that such a valve could 
never be made gas tight, even when new, where its weight 
is expected, as here it must be, to perform its purpose of 
protecting the water seal below from siphonage. Such an 
air valve, if applied at all, should be placed above the trap 
far enough from the waste water to be beyond the reach 
of contamination therefrom. As here placed, the hinge 










■5 



Kb 



UL 



Fig. 91. Air Vent Trap. 



Fig. 91b. Morey's Air Vent. 



would quickly become corroded enough to deprive it of 
the sensitiveness of action necessary to prevent the de- 
struction of the light body of water in the trap by siphon- 
age. Nevertheless, the idea underlying this trap is good; 
namely, to apply a very small air valve far enough above 
the trap seal to be entirely out of the way of water spat- 
tering and sufficiently sensitive to supply air to the waste 
pipe before siphoning action can overcome the feeble in- 
ertia of the water seal. It is the principle of the Morey 
and McLellen vents. 

(2) Reservoir Traps. 
Figs. 90 to 105, inclusive, represent various forms of 

169 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

sediment collecting traps. The most famous in this coun- 
try is the pot trap (initial cut), Fig. 90. The unfortunate D 
trap, common in England, is shown in Figs. 92 to 98. This 
D trap is as much despised here in America as our favorite 
pot trap is in England. It is difficult to account for the 
national fondness for either of these abominations, now 
very cheaply made by machinery, after so much better de- 




1) 



Fig. Old 



Fig. 92. 




Fig 



vices have been furnished. But both forms, as well as the 
globe trap (Fig. 100) and bottle trap (Fig. 91) are hard 
to siphon when the size of the body is made large enough 
in proportion to that of the inlet and outlet pipes, and this 
fact, together with the ease with which they could be manu- 
factured by hand on rainy days, has made them favorites, 



170 





Fig. y4. 



Fig. 95. 




Fig. 96. 





Fig. 98 



Fig. 100. 




Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

in spite of the absence of all science in their form and con- 
struction 

Although the pot trap is liable to collect sediment and 
become at times very foul within the cesspool chamber, it 
may, nevertheless, be made antisiphonic, and, if the walls 
are sound, the foul gases within it cannot escape into the 
house under normal conditions. All they can do is to re- 
main in the trap until they are driven out by the next cur- 
rent of water that passes through it ; only with unventilated 
soil pipes do these cesspools become a source of serious 
trouble. Yet if a choice had to be made between the evils 
of an unventilated pot trap and a ventilated siphon trap 
there should be no hesitation in preferring the former. 

The bottle trap (Figs. 91 and 100) are equally good with 
the floating ball trap of equal size in resisting siphonage 
and in every other respect, and they are much to be pre- 
ferred to it, inasmuch as they are not encumbered with any 
mechanical part. 

Fig. 91 bis shows an inverted bottle trap, the interior pipe 
becoming the outlet instead of the inlet. In this case, the 
outlet pipe is sometimes flared out, trumpet shaped at the 
end. This may somewhat increase its resistance to siphon- 
age, but it also evidently tends to obstruct the water flow, 
and forms a nucleus for the collection of sediment, hairs, 
lint, etc. A better way to increase the antisiphon feature 
is to increase the diameter, if a bottle trap is to be used at 
all. 

Fig. 62 is an old form of D trap called the "Goose" trap, 
a cesspool trap of rarely appropriate name. 

Figs. 94 to 99 represent some cesspool traps at the Mu- 
seum of Hygiene at Washington, and described by Mr. 
Glenn Brown, architect, some of them having been pre- 
sented by Mr. S. Stevens Hellyer of London. They show 
tHe heavy deposits formed in these unflushed cesspools and 

172 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the chemical action on their metal work, especially where 
soil pipes are unventilated under abnormal conditions. 

In the first figure, which is a water-closet trap, the inlet 
pipe is almost closed by deposits, and the waste pipe en- 
trance (A) from another fixture is completely closed up. 

Fig. 97 shows a piece sawed off from the bottom of a D 
trap. Over a third of the entire area of the trap seems to 
have been taken up with the deposit. 

Fig. 98 is a section of a lead D trap having an incrusta- 
tion below the water line averaging over an inch in thick- 
ness. Two waste pipes entering below the water line were 
nearly closed by deposits, the waterway remaining in them 
being not over ^ inch in diameter. The analysis of the 
incrustation in this trap showed calcic phosphate, 37.12 per 
cent; plumbic phosphate, 1.45 per cent; calcic carbonate, 
32.11 per cent; volatile and organic matter, 17.82 per cent, 
and water, 11.50 per cent. 

Figs. 95 and 99 show waste pipes completely closed in 
traps which had been in postion forty-five or fifty years. 

Fig. 101 is a pot trap having its inlet and outlet pipe con- 
nections arranged in such a manner as to improve the 
scouring action of the water passing through it. But a fix- 
ture having its outlet large enough to fill the waste pipe 
"full bore" and constructed so as to be discharged "full 
bore," must be used with such traps, as indeed with all 
traps, if the cleansing power of the flush is to be of any 
service. 

Figs. 102 and 103 show a bathtub trap.* Its purpose is 
to permit of cleansing it from the floor level. Made of suf- 
ficient diameter it would easily resist siphonage and is very 
convenient where it is necessary to sink the body of a trap 
between floor joists. Figs. 104 and 105 show ordinary pot 
traps in the same position. 



'Made by the Webb Manufacturing Co. of Boston. 

173 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 





Fig. 102. 



Fig. 103. 




Fig. 104. 




CHAPTER XII. 
Street Gullies and Siphonable Traps. 




Fig. 107. 



THE next figures are taken from Bald- 
win Latham's "Sanitary Engineering" 
and show sediment traps used for 
|dfStreet Gullies. These traps ought to 
^gradually disappear from use and will 
do so as soon as communities see the 
importance of building good sewers 
and properly ventilating them. The 
street sewer inlets will then serve as 
sewer inlet vents and the traps will 
be done away with. The silt-basins 
must also disappear with the disuse 
of horses. Automobiles will require perfectly smooth pave- 
ments, which are not entirely without drawbacks now, on 
account of the danger to horses from slipping. These 
smooth pavements will then be kept perfectly clean and 
the ventilating openings into the sewers will be very simple 
and inexpensive. 

Until such time, however, street gullies and sediment 
traps will be used, and the drawings show the principle upon 
which they are constructed. 

"Gullies are liable to fail in times of frost, especially in 
very cold countries, as the gullies and traps get completely 
frozen up, and, when a sudden thaw takes place, they are 
found locked up with ice, so that the water cannot readily 
escape, and the streets, in consequence, get flooded. The 
remedy for this is to remove the water in the gully as far 
as possible from, the surface, and the gullies are constructed 

175 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



with special reference to the breaking up of the ice in the 
traps should it accumulate. Figure no represents the sec- 
tion of a street gully which has been used at Carlsruhe, Ger- 
many. The gully is made in two portions, with a trap in 
the division wall. Should the trap get frozen, the stone S 
is removed from that portion into which the trap discharges, 
and a suitable tool may be inserted to break up the ice. 
* * * In all cases gullies are liable to become untrapped 




Fig. 106. 



Fis. 112. 



Fig. 113. 



from leakage or from evaporation, therefore, to insure the 
integrity of the traps, they should have the water constantly 
renewed in dry weather. * * * All gullies should be reg- 
ularly scavenged, not less frequently than once every six 
or ten days, as matters are often passed into them, which 
decay and give off an offensive effluvium if left too long 
in the gully. * * * Gullies are usually provided with 
grated coverings * * * which should be arranged at 
right angles to the traffic, or otherwise narrow-wheeled ve- 

176 



Street Gullies and Siphonable Traps. 

hides are liable to get injured in the openings between the 
bars of the gratings.* 

Figure 106 is a representation of a gully trap which is 
an improvement upon the common Bell trap, the bell not 
being attached to the cover, but being loose, and having a 
perforated bottom and dropping down on the center cone 
D. The top grating is hinged and can be raised so that the 
trap can be easily cleaned out. B is the level of the street 
surface, and C of the water. The arrows indicate the direc- 
tion of the passage of the water to the drains. 

Figure 107 is a London gully-hole with a cesspool con- 
structed under the sidewalk in order to facilitate its cleans- 
ing in narrow streets of great traffic. The solid matter is 
collected in the bottom of the cesspool and removed from 
time to time through the stone manhole in the sidewalk. 

Figure 108 is a larger gully with cesspool under the side- 
walk. It contains room for a large amount of road detritus 
to be periodically moved as described for Fig. 107. Fig. 
109 is a street gully with earthenware trap. The gully it- 
self is made of concrete in one piece, strengthened with 
wrought iron bands cast within the concrete. This con- 
struction has been used in the city of Dantzic where the 
climate is very severe. 

Figures in and 112 are gully traps suitable for yards, 
but the curved bottom of the latter with the outlet near it, 
renders it liable to transmit detritus into the sewers where 
a large volume of water passes through it. 

Figure 113 shows a double trap London street gully, 
the smaller catch-pit is not so easily evaporated out as the 
larger one, which is more exposed, and the emptying of 
the larger one still leaves the gully trapped. 

Figures 114 and 115 show a cast-iron gully having sev- 



! Baldwin Latham. 

177 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

eral good points where traps are desired at all. First it 
has a trap which is as reliable as possible at all times, the 
usual traps losing their seals when the level of the water is 
reduced by the removal of deposits. Second, very little 
evaporation goes on in summer, and freezing in winter is 




Fig. 122. 



Fig. 123. 



impeded. Third, there is ample space for road detritus., 
Fourth, it has a flushing aperture in the small trap. Fifth, 
it is economical and requires no brickwork in setting. 

Figure 116 shows a gully used by Mr. Denton for many 
years, having advantages similar to the last. Finally Figs. 

178 



Street Gullies and Siphonable Traps. 

117 and 118 show gullies having removable sediment boxes. 
The gratings are made separate for convenience in casting 
and in lifting off. The boxes above the trap lessen evapora- 
tion in dry weather and can be removed and emptied into 
the scavenger's cart readily by one man. 

The next figures show a number of disconnecting house 
traps described by Denton, all being more or less cesspools, 
with square top. Figure 123 is a horizontal house trap. 




Fig. 124. 





Fig. 126. 

All should and will be done away with as fast as the people 
learn the value and economy of well ventilated sewers. The 
slide also gives a number of grease and sink traps. 

Figure 121 is a species of grease traps having a catch- 
basin at the bottom. Fig. 122 is an earthenware sink trap 
Figure -124 is a rainwater pipe trap which, however, can 
not be depended upon unless means are provided for con- 
stantly renewing the water therein. Figure 125 is a running 



179 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

house trap with gully combined. A gully trap so used will 
always be sure of a seal while the house is occupied, be- 
cause it takes the house waste and is not dependent upon 
rainy weather. Fig. 126 is another gully trap showing how 
it may be ventilated by a pipe rising along the outer wall of 
a house. 






Fig. 130. 



Fig. 129. 



Fig. 128. 





n p» 



Fig. 131. 




Fig. 134. 

Fig. 127 shows a triple seal trap, used in England, and 
is introduced to show the madness to which main house 
trapping is sometimes carried. The water in this trap oc- 
cupies two compartments separated from each other de- 
signed to prevent the one seal from polluting the other if 



180 



Street Gullies and Siphonable Traps. 

the water in it should in any way become foul. The middle 
part of the trap receives the surface drainage, and also pro- 
vides an escape for any sewer air which might be forced 
through the outer seal ; all parts open directly into the outer 
air through gratings. The three dips are intended to afford 
extra security against the passage of sewer air. This trap 
is, of course, very objectionable on account of the great 
obstruction it offers to the passage of the drainage, and 
of its expense. 

Self Cleansing Traps. 

are those which are scoured throughout by the water which 
passes through them. They may be subdivided into (i) 
those which lose their water seal under the action of siphon- 
age or momentum, and (2) those which are capable of 
resisting such action. 

(1) Siphonable Traps 

Figures 128 to 134 represent different forms of siphon- 
able traps. A very feeble suction is all that is necessary to 
break the seal of any of them. The modified forms possess 
no appreciable advantage over the common S trap of equal 
depth of seal in this respect. 

Fig. 134 is an S trap with a small sediment chamber at its 
bottom. This chamber was introduced with the idea that it 
would give the trap greater resistance against siphonage. It 
has, however, no advantage whatever in this direction, since 
its enlargement is all below the seal proper. 

Fig. 135 represents a complicated device for replenishing 
the seal exhausted by siphonage, evaporation or other cause. 
The device would evidently soon become inoperative, and is 
too expensive and delicate to deserve more than a passing no- 
tice. Fig. 133 shows the manner in which the ventilating 

181 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

opening of an S trap becomes clogged sometimes to a 
height of more than two feet from the mouth, and the same 
would result with the water supply pipe intended to refill the 
trap in Fig. 135 because it could evidently never be under 
water pressure. 

Figures 136 and 137 are other illustrations of an excess 
of ill-directed zeal. The purpose is to refill on S trap auto- 
matically after siphonage, a small reservoir chamber being 
attached to the trap in such a manner as to deliver to it 
through atmospheric pressure a fresh supply of water when- 
ever its level in the trap seal falls slightly below the normal. 
It works on the principle of the inverted bottle chicken 




Fig. 135. 



feeder, and is itself replenished by a small feeder pipe 
operative when the supply cock of the fixture is opened for 
use. This complicated and costly device was conceived 
many years ago when the fear of sewer gas was at its 
greatest. It is true that the water pressure would be likely 
to keep the small openings in the reservoir chamber free 
from deposit and the trap well scoured out, but the trap 
might be siphoned while the fixture cock was not in use 
for a considerable length of time so that the entire device 
would serve only to inculcate a false sense of security, even 
though evaporation might not empty the supply vessel in a 
year. 

182 



Street Gullies and Siphonable Traps. 




Fig. 136. 



183 



CHAPTER XIII. 
Seal Retaining Traps. 




We have considered 
briefly the various agen- 
cies which tend to destroy 
. j the seals of traps, and 
ss have presented several vi- 
{^ tal objections to the meth- 
ods of protection gener- 
ally attempted. 
Fig. 138. Internally all kinds of 

mechanical seals, balls, 
gates and valves, both single and double, as shown in 
Figs. 64 to 81, inclusive, have been tried. Externally in- 
genious and complicated devices for refilling the seals 
after their destruction, like that shown in Figs. 135 and 
136, have been attempted. But all of these devices have 
failed for want of simplicity and reliability. 

Finally the "back vent" pipe was conceived of, and for 
a time it was supposed that the great remedy had been at- 
tained. A few rough and unscientific laboratory tests made 
on siphonage, which seemed to corroborate the idea, at once 
gave rise, in several large cities, to a law rendering special 
trap venting obligatory. At the time this law was enacted 
the common "round" or "pot" trap of large size had shown 
itself to be capable of resisting siphonage when new and 
clean, but it was recognized that under some conditions, as 
when used with kitchen and pantry sinks, clogging was cer- 
tain in time to render it inoperative. The object of the 
vent pipe was to afford protection without the use of these 

184 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

cesspool traps, but the practical result has been that cess- 
pools have become, since the enactment of the law, more 
prevalent than ever, because not only has the use of the pot 
trap, under various changes of form and name, continued 
undiminished, but the mouth of the vent pipe has added 
a cesspool to traps which were otherwise substantially self- 
cleaning, as has already been shown. 

Thus not only has the original purpose of the law been 
frustrated, but the very evil it was intended to remove has 
been actually augmented by it. The pot trap is converted 
by grease into an S trap, and the S trap by the same agency 
acting in the mouth of the vent pipe, into a cesspool trap. 
The vent pipe was applied to protect the S trap, but is it- 
self destroyed by the very same agency which destroyed 
the pot, and the only wonder is that this inevitable result 
was not anticipated before the law was passed. 

Having now found this belief in back venting to be 
fallacious, safety must be sought in some other direction. 

Siphonage must be guarded against, not by adding to the 
trap a limb of indefinite length and connecting it with the 
external air, but by forming the trap itself in such a man- 
ner that its own water-way shall serve as a special air-vent 
passage, and permit the air of the room to supply the par- 
tial vacuum in the soil pipe without drawing the water out 
of the trap before it. 

In constructing the trap provision must be made also for 
resisting back pressure, evaporation, capillary action, leak- 
age and all other adverse influences. 

If a trap can be devised which shall be as self scouring as 
a straight pipe of the size of the waste pipe itself, and at 
the same time be capable, unvented, of resisting a siphoning 
strain powerful enough to completely empty an S or small 
pot trap fully vented in accordance with the law, and if 
the construction of this trap is such that it forms its own 

185 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

vent pipe and causes fresh air to pass through its own body 
whenever it is used and whenever siphoning action occurs, 
so that it actively assists the main soil pipe vent in aerating 
the waste pipe system in the most effective manner ; then 
it becomes clear that the continuance of this law on the 
statute books is a very gross imposition upon the public. 
When, in addition to this, we know that the vent pipe is 
utterly unreliable on account of clogging and other influ- 
ences already fully described, and that it involves the very 
positive and important objection of rapidly destroying by 
evaporation the seal it was intended to protect ; where other 
simpler methods now known are entirely free from these 
difficulties ; the enforcement of such a law becomes an in- 
excusable outrage upon the public, whether such enforce- 
ment be due to selfish private interest or unjustifiable igno- 
rance, and the investigation of the whole matter by an im- 
partial commission appointed by the Federal, State, or Mu- 
nicipal authority, becomes a very serious duty in behalf of 
the people which has already been far too long neglected. 

Although it has always been declared impossible, from 
the nature of things, to render a simple unvented S trap 
absolutely secure against siphonage this has nevertheless 
now, in effect, been fully accomplished. 

Evolution of a Permanent Anti-Siphon Water-Seal 

Trap. 

To obtain these results, without internal complication or 
external aid, is only possible by taking full advantage of the 
various laws which govern the action of fluids in plumbing. 
The difference in the specific gravity of air and water, and 
the consequent difference of momentum of the two fluids 
under equal rapidity of motion, and the relative attractive 
and cohesive forces of the particles of the two fluids, give 

186 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

us reliable means of separating the air from the water in 
their passage along the inner walls of the trap as simply 
and unfailingly as chaff is separated from the grain in the 
winnowing machine. 

I have given as the second of the three methods tried 
for protecting the seals of traps from loss by siphonage, 
the use of a large unventilated "pot" or "reservoir" trap. I 
have shown that a small pot trap will not resist siphonage, 
and that none which is less than eight inches in diameter 
can be relied upon in all cases ; that a five-inch pot trap 
might sometimes be siphoned out by discharges from fix- 
tures under conditions which may occur in practice; that 
a four-inch pot trap siphons out much easier; that an ordi- 
nary three-inch trap has very little resisting power, and 
that two and a half inch and two-inch traps are altogether 
useless, and but little more than S traps. 

But unfortunately the larger forms of pot traps are, as 
has been said, not self cleaning. They are cesspools and 
violate one of our main principles of plumbing which pro- 
hibits the retention of decomposing waste matter anywhere 
within the system. They are also very bulky and expensive 
in use of material. 

In order to better study these movements, we have had 
a large number of traps constructed in whole and in part 
of glass. 

The initial cut, Fig. 138, shows one of our experimental 
glass traps in perspective, so constructed. The body is 
thirteen inches square and an inch and a half deep. The 
inlet and outlet arms are made of inch and a half pipe. The 
inlet end descends below the bottom of the drum instead of 
entering the side, as is customary. 

Under siphoning action the seal standing in the inlet 
bend rises into the drum and simply stands one side while 
air passes through the trap from the fixture above the 

187 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

water in the drum, as shown by the arrows in the drawing, 
and breaks the partial vacuum in the soil pipe. The 
storm having blown over, the water seal quietly returns 
from the drum or reservoir chamber into the bend and 
restores the original conditions as a reed rises after the 
fury of a hurricane has passed. 

Thus the trap becomes its own back vent pipe, a back 
vent pipe which has no inaccessible body waiting for mis- 
chief, which provides entire security, and yet which adds 
absolutely nothing to the expense. 

As will be seen, a small portion of the water in the trap 
will be thrown out at the first application of the siphoning 
strain, but as soon as the level of the water in the reservoir 
chamber has been lowered a little below the overflow point, 
far enough to provide for the wave action produced by the 
air blast, no further loss of water can be occasioned even 
by the severest strain that can be brought to bear upon it. 
This trap was found capable of withstanding a strain severe 
enough to empty an S trap fully vented under the most 
favorable conditions with a new clean vent the size of the 
bore of the trap and only fifteen feet long. It per- 
fectly illustrates the fact that the principle of resist- 
ance to siphonage lies not in depth but in breadth of seal. 
The maximum of strength comes with the maximum of 
horizontal dimension, but with a minimum of height. 

The trap is, however, still open to the objection that it 
is not self-scouring. The sediment chamber is not so large 
as it would be in a deeper drum trap. The cesspool feature 
has been eliminated only in one of its dimensions. 

Fig. 193 shows the manner in which a pot trap of this 
form, though absolutely antisiphonic, could clog with grease 
under a sink. 

The third method of obtaining the desired security is, 

188 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

as stated, to obtain some form of trap which shall be both 
antisiphonic and self scouring at the same time. 

In our experiments with pot traps of various diameters, 
from eight inches down to two inches, we have found that 
with traps of equal depth their resistance to siphoning action 
very rapidly increased with the increase of their diameter; 
that with traps of equal diameter their resistance to capil- 
lary action increased with their depth ; that resistance to 
back pressure increased with the increase of water capacity 
of the trap and with its depth below the fixture it serves; 
and that resistance to fouling action and clogging increased 
as the sectional area of the body of the trap approached 
that of its inlet and outlet arms ; and that, finally, resistance 
to evaporation increased with the increase of water capacity 
of the trap and of its distance from air currents. I have 
moreover lately found that a shallow seal trap may be de- 
signed in such a manner as to protect the seal of a water 
closet trap from siphonage, as will hereafter be shown. 

From this it would appear, at first thought, that to ob- 
tain a trap capable of afTording the maximum resistance to 
all these adverse influences at once and under all conditions 
would be impossible, because the desiderata above enumer- 
ated seem to be in direct conflict with one another, a large 
diameter being needed to resist siphonage and a small one 
to resist clogging, while evaporation and capillary action 
seem to demand a deep seal and thorough scouring, and 
water closet trap protection a shallow one. But a closer in- 
vestigation will make clear that these disiderata are not 
necessarily incompatible with one another, as the following 
experiments and reasoning will show. 

The trap must be so formed, in the first place, that its 
sectional area shall in no place exceed the area of the fix- 
ture waste pipe which it serves, because otherwise it would 
not possess the maximum of self scouring power, 

189 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

This requirement confines us to the use of some form of 
plain piping, either straight or bent, in the construction of 
the trap. 

In the second place it is evident that a sufficient amount 
of this piping will be required in the formation of the trap 
to provide the necessary water capacity for resistance to 
back pressure and evaporation. 

In the third place all the piping used must be on a hori- 
zontal plane in order to preserve the required minimum 
depth of water seal. 

Finally, for the purpose of insuring against loss of seal 
by capillary action, the seal of the trap must be separated 
from its connection with the drain pipe by a distance great 
enough to offset the maximum of capillary forces ever en- 
countered in plumbing practice. 

The first form of trap answering to these requirements 
with which we experimented was, therefore, the simplest 
form, namely, that of a straight pipe placed horizontally, as 
shown in Fig. 139. 

This trap consists of the seal proper shown on the left 
side of the figure, which is made of i^-inch bent tubing, 
the seal being not over a half an inch in depth ; a long hori- 
zontal body consisting of a plain round pipe likewise i>4 
inch in diameter, or of exactly the same sectional area as 
that of all parts of the seal tubing; and at the opposite end 
of this pipe the sewer connection piece, which is again of 
sectional area everywhere equal to that of all the parts of 
the trap. 

I call the first part of this trap the "trap seal proper," the 
second, the "reservoir chamber," and the last, the "outlet 
connection." 

The outlet connection has its overflow point }i inch 
above the bottom of the reservoir chamber, so that when 
this chamber stands full of water the entire depth of water 
seal measures only 1*4 inches. 

190 



<V w 

u. ■ 

•I 

o 



191 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

The trap was constructed of round metal tubing 1^4 
inches in diameter, the reservoir chamber being ten feet 
long. 

The principle of resistance of this trap to siphonage lies 
in the air space over the long reservoir chamber and in the 
shallowness of the water seal. The water constituting this 
shallow seal, yielding readily to the siphoning action, is 
thrown out of the seal proper and distributed over the sur- 
face of the water in the long chamber, and only slightly 
raises the level thereof. A part of it is carried out into the 
waste pipe. Then air from the fixture side of the trap, 
having ample room above the water to pass through the 
chamber without disturbing the water below it, breaks the 
partial vacuum in the soil pipe, and restores the atmospheric 
equilibrium in the pipe system. 

The small seal in the trap proper is then quickly re- 
plenished by water flowing back into it from the long reser- 
voir chamber without materially reducing its level. 

A small amount of water is driven out of the trap by 
each subsequent repetition of the siphoning action, but less 
and less is lost each time because the air space above the 
water is each time correspondingly enlarged, and the re- 
sistance to siphonage accordingly increased until a point is 
reached when no further reduction of its level by siphon- 
age is possible. 

The reason why air and not water escapes through the 
reservoir chamber, is because the water thrown up from 
the seal proper by the siphoning action forms a spray which, 
striking the top of the reservoir, adheres to it and, in virtue 
of the greater attractive and cohesive force already referred 
to of the particles of this fluid,, permits the lighter air 
to pass through it and escape. 

But there are two very evident objections to this simple 
arrangement of the parts of the trap: the first being its in- 

192 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

convenient and unwieldy form, and the fact that a very 
slight sagging of the body would be sufficient to destroy its 
action ; and the second, that in the event of the siphoning 
action being exceedingly powerful, a water wave is set up 




Fig. 140. 
Wave formed by siphoning- action. 



in the tube body which acts like a solid piston in driving 
out before it the rest of the water therein, so that this form 
of trap could only be relied upon to resist siphoning action 
of moderate intensity. 

Our next inquiry was, therefore, to discover some way 
by which this water wave or piston might be broken up, 
and the air behind it allowed to escape to the outlet with- 
out exhausting the reservoir in its passage. 

The most natural method was to simply bend the pipe 
body back and forth on itself abruptly, and the most com- 
pact form possible in which our ten feet of tubing can be 
bent in this manner being that of a square, our next ex- 
perimental trap took this form, as shown in Figs. 141 and 
142.* 

Our reservoir in this case consisted of a metal box 13 
inches square on the inside, having a glass top and eight 
partitions set in such a manner as to produce a continuous 



*These and all the subsequent drawings of our horizontal traps 
have been made to the f=arre scale of one-eighth the actual size in 
order to facilitate comparison between them. 

193 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

zigzag waterway through the trap, the water having at all 
parts a sectional area exactly equal to that of the trap 
proper shown at the left of the figures, and of its inlet and 
outlet arms. 



□ 



Fig. 141. 




Fig. 142. 
Second step. Breaking up the waves by abrupt ends, 
section of square trap. 



Plan and 



At each return bend of the pipe the wave created by the 
siphonage is partly reflected back, and broken up, and the 
air thus finds an opportunity to force its way through to the 
outlet without appreciable reduction of the water level in 
the reservoir chamber. 

Tested on the apparatus shown in Fig. 241 this trap was 
found able to withstand indefinitely the most powerful 

194 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

siphonage which could be applied, a strain which in a single 
discharge, destroyed the seal of a fully vented S trap, Fig. 
143, even though the vent. pipe was new and smooth, and 
of the full size of the bore of the trap and only ten feet 
in length! 




S-trap emptied by one siphoning action, leaving only a few 
drops in the bottom of the trap, at the level of the dotted line. A 
vent pipe 10 feet long was attached to the vent outlet shown. 

The same strain easily emptied an unvented 4-inch pot 
trap, Fig. 144, and siphoned out an S trap having a seal six 
feet deep! Fig. 145. 




«5 A^ 



Pot trap, which lost its seal after three siphoning actions on our 
apparatus, shown in Fig. 221. 

195 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Yet our new trap easily withstood this enormous pres- 
sure ten times repeated, losing only y% inch in the first two 
applications of the strain, and nothing more in the remain- 
ing applications. In another test it lost Y* inch in the first 
three applications and no more thereafter. 

The trap will hold its seal more securely than a pot or 
cesspool trap of more than nine inches in diameter, whether 
the pot be vented or unvented (Fig. 146), because in either 



- t 

m 






Fig. 146. 
Pot trap nine inches in diameter. 



Fig. 145. 
S-trap, with seal 6 feet deep, which lost its seal, tested on the same 

apparatus. 

case the movement of the water at the top of the pot is 
very sluggish and this favors early clogging with greasy 
scum, gradually converting it into an S trap. 

Hence we have here obtained an absolutely antisiphon 
self-cleaning trap of practical form. 

But there are yet two serious objections to this form. 
The first being its great size, and the second the resistance 

196 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

which the numerous return bends make to the outflow of 
the water in its normal use. Small eddies are generated at 
each bend, which retard the quick and free escape of the 
waste water without in any way increasing the scouring 
action thereof. 

Tested for friction it was found that it required 35 
seconds for the water of a 12-gallon tub to escape through 
this trap as against 21 seconds for the same amount of 
water under the same conditions passing through a trap 
of this same size but constructed as shown in Fig. 138 
without the partitions. 

In order to obviate the first objection of the inconve- 
niently large size of the trap, we next experimented with 



D 



Fig. 147. 



v ^ 




■ =-- -T = -. = i-j ] 


w 



Fig. 148. 
197 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

smaller sizes, successively reducing the horizontal dimen- 
sions from 13 to 10^ inches, and then to 9, 8, 7, and finally 
6 inches. Moreover the shape of the partitions was varied 
in order to ascertain the most effective and easily construct- 
ed arrangement. 





Fig. 149. 



Fig. 151. 





__r 



Fig. 150. 



Fig. 152. 



* > i 

kin 




Fig. 153. 



Fig. 154. 



Figs. 147 to 161, inclusive, show the various forms we 
have examined, and in Table I the test made on some of 
these forms are recorded. The results of the tests may be 
briefly summed up as follows: 



198 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

Seal Retaining Traps, 
(i) With traps of the kind under consideration the 
power of resistance to siphonage is in proportion to the 
horizontal length of the waterway in. the trap. The largest 













\ 


1 


'% 





I ' ' 

L 1 




Fig. 155. 



Fig. 15( 



V 

L- ■ 



Fig. 157. 




Fig. 158. 



Fig. 159. 





Fig. 160. 



Fig. 161. 



is capable of resisting the most powerful siphonage that can 
possibly be brought against it on any apparatus which can 
be built for making a plumbing test of which we are aware, 



199 



TABLE I. 
EXPERIMENTS ON SIPHONAGE. SEVEREST STRAIN. 
Showing Aggregate Loss of Water in Traps in Fractions of an Inch After 
Each Siphoning Action. 



Traps Tested 



Number of Each Test. 
2 3 4 5 6 



10 



S-Trap 
Fig. 143 
iy 2 in. Seal 
10 ft. Vent 
& One Return 
Bend 



Seal 
Broken 



Trap 
Emptied* 



4-inch Pot 
Fig. 144 
3*4 in. Seal 


2 in. 
out 


2 1-2 in. 
out 


2 3-4 3 Seal 
in. in. Bro- 
out out ken 






4 inch Pot 
20 ft. of Vent 
Pipe & 5 Return 
Bends 


3-4 in. 
out 


lin. 
out 


1 1-2 13-4 2 2 1-4 2 3-8 do. 


do. 


do. 


Long Trap 
Fig. 139 


Seal 
Broken 










S-Trap 
2i/ 2 ft. Seal 


Seal 
Broken 










S-Trap 
4y 2 ft. Seal 


Seal 
Broken 











S-Trap 
6y 2 ft. Seal 



All but 
10 in. 
out 



All but 
6 in. 
out 



do. do. do. do. 



13 in. Square 
Trap. Fig. 193 


5-16 in. 
out 


ll-32in. 
out 


3-8 do. 
in. out 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


13 in. Square 
Trap. Fig. 141 


1-4 in. 
out 


3-8 in. 
out 


do. do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 






13 in. Square 
Trap. Fig. 147 


1-16 in. 
out 


do. 


1-8 do. 
in. out 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


13 in. Spiral 
Trap. Fig. 178 


3-8 in. 
out 


1-2 in. 
out 


17-32 do. 
in. out 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


lOi^ Spiral 
Trap. Fig. 183 


1-2 in. 

out 


do. 


do. do. 


do. 


do. 










10y 2 in. Spiral 
Fig. 180 


1-2 in. 
out 


9-16 
out 


do. do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 








8^4 in. Spiral 


1-2 in. 
out 


3-8 in. 
out 


7-16 do. 
in. out 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


7 in. Spiral 


1-2 in. 
out 


do. 


do. do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


6!/4 in. Spiral 


1-2 in. 

out 


do. 


916 5-8 
in. out. in.i 


do. 

3Ut. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


6 in. Spiral 


3-4 in. 
out 


7-8 in. 
out 


1 do. 















>Only 1-8 inch of water 



left in bottom ofTrap. 
200 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

and much more powerful than any that can be brought to 
bear upon it in plumbing practice. 

This same statement holds good down to the six inch 
size, the only difference being that the amount of water 
forced out of the reservoir chamber by the strains will be 
slightly greater in the smaller than in the larger sizes, as 
will be seen by reading the table. The two smaller sizes, 
namely, the 7 inch and the 6 inch, will resist any siphoning 
action, however long continued, which can be encountered 
in actual plumbing practice. 

By slightly increasing the depth of the trap, in these 
smaller sizes, however, the resistance can be made to ap- 
proximate that of the largest sizes. Thus by increasing the 
depth of the 7 inch trap by half an inch its resistance can 
be made substantially equal to that of the 10 inch and the 
13 inch traps, and by increasing the depth of the 6 inch trap 
by an inch the same result can be attained in this case. 

(2) The variations in arrangement of the partitions 
shown in the various figures given above, do not essentially 
affect their power of resistance to siphonage nor the cost of 
their construction. 

Figs. 162 and 163 show two other arrangements of the 
partitions. The corners of the partitions may be rounded as 
shown in these drawings without greatly affecting the re- 
sistance of the trap, a slight increase in the length of the 
water-way fully restoring any loss of area thus occasioned. 

Fig. 164 shows four ordinary S traps connected together. 

I have drawn them . for the purpose of comparison with 
Fig. 163. Such an arrangement of S traps would, of course, 
result in "air binding." But by venting them at the crown 
this is obviated. 

Now the only difference between these two arrangements 

201 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

is that in Fig. 164 the S traps are placed vertically and in 
Fig. 163 they are placed horizontally. The forms and sizes 
of the traps in both cases are absolutely the same. But the 
entire character of the S trap has by this simple change of 
position become marvelously and radically altered. 




Fig. 162. 
Another arrangement of the partitions. 




Fig. 163. 
S-traps placed horizontally. 




Fig. 164. 
S-traps placed vertically. 

202 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

In its ordinary vertical position the trap is now known 
to be utterly unreliable and therefore in eifect worthless, 
presenting, as it does, the feeblest possible resistance to all 
the adverse influences which tend to destroy a water seal 
in plumbing, and for this reason the common S or siphon 
trap should never be used except for water closet seals, and 
then only under conditions of arrangement which will ren- 
der their seals secure and reliable. In its horizontal position, 
on the contrary, it becomes absolutely invulnerable, and 
acquires all the qualities to be desired. 

Thus the feat of rendering an S trap antisiphon without 
the aid of a vent pipe, as claimed at the beginning of this 
chapter, has been accomplished. By this treatment our S 
trap becomes in effect vented through its own inlet pipe, 
whereby the entire volume of fresh air needed to supply the 
strongest siphonage ever encountered and to ventilate the 
waste pipe system is made to pass directly through the body 
of the trap itself without the slightest danger of destroying 
its seal in its passage. 

(3) We find, however, that the free and rapid discharge 
of the waste water in normal use is diminished in proportioi 
as the turns required in its passage through the trap are 
abrupt and varied. 

Thus the traps shown in Figs. 147 and 162 retard the flow 
more than those shown in Figs. 138 and 141, and the oppor- 
tunities for sediment deposit are greater in the latter than 
in the former. Hence of these forms the former have two 
important advantages. 

Experiments were also made on horizontal traps with 
combinations of curved and straight partitions as shown in 
Figs. 165 to 177, inclusive. They showed about the same 
power of resistance as the traps having all rectangular par- 
titions, but were, for the same reasons, subject to the same 
defects. 

203 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




Fig. 165. 





Fig. 166. 



Fis. 167. 





Fig. 168. 



Fig. 169. 



204 



Seal Retaining Traps. 





Fig. 170. 



Fig. 171. 





Fig. 172. 



Fig. 173. 




Fig. 174. 



Fig. 175. 



Fig. 177. 



Figs 164 to 177 inclusive. Horizontal Traps with Combined Curved 
and Straight Partitions. 



We have found that these defects can be obviated by 
taking advantage of the principle of centrifugal force. Ac- 
cordingly we constructed the partition in the form of a 
spiral as shown in Figs. 178 and 179. 



205 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

This improvement constitutes our third step, and in it we 
have attained a form which combines the advantages of all 
the preceding ones and eliminates completely their defects. 
We can reduce the horizontal dimensions as much as be- 





Figs. 178 and 179. 

Third Step. Plan and section of Horizontal Trap with Spiral 

Partitions. 



fore without destroying the power of the trap to withstand 
the severest tests of siphonage. 

We have done away with the comparatively clumsy 
method of using abrupt turns and baffle walls to separate the 



206 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

air from the water when siphoning action takes place, and 
have substituted for it the simpler and more scientific and 
effective agency of centrifugal force. 

Air under powerful siphonage rushes through the trap 
with tremendous speed, causing some of the water in the 
reservoir to whirl around with the air like a miniature 
whirlpool and cyclone. The water, being the heavier of the 
two elements, is thrown outwards by its spiral movement 
against the outer walls of the partition, while the air hugs 
the inner walls because along them lies the quickest and 
easiest outlet to the drain pipe where the partial vacuum to 
be filled by it exists. 

This action of the two fluids is easily followed by the eye 
if the upper side of the experimental traps be made of 
glass. It is made stiU more plainly discernible if lumps 
of earth, small stones and other substances a little heav- 
ier than water be mixed with it. These are clearly seen 
to hug the outer walls as they whirl around on their way 
to the outlet, while the air bubbles, always present in the 
water at the time of siphoning action, seek the inner 
side or more direct passage outwards, which is for them 
the line of least resistance. 

The resisting power of this trap is, as shown by the table, 
as great as that of any of the preceding traps, while its form 
permits of a much more rapid discharge than the others in 
proportion to the length of its waterway, and it has the 
maximum of scouring action, and absolutely no obstruction 
or baffle in any way of the water discharges at any point 
beyond what is encountered in a perfectly straight smooth 
pipe. It has a sufficient volume of water to withstand back 
pressure and evaporation, and the distance between the trap 
proper and the drain outlet is sufficient to obviate capillary 
action. 

I believe, therefore, that in this we have attained the prin- 
ciple of the perfect anti-siphon plumbers' trap. 

207 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Examined for friction, or self scouring properties, these 
spiral traps showed themselves, as might be expected, far 
superior to the others, as indicated by the friction tests 
recorded in Table III. 

TABLE III. 

Experiments on Water Scour. 

Showing Time in Seconds Required for Water in 
Cistern Shown in Fig. 241 to Pass Through Traps. 

Number of tests. 
Traps tested. 1st Test. 2d Test. 3d Test. 

Sec. Sec. Sec. 

4-in. Pot Trap, 3 1-2-in. Seal . . 25 24 25 

Straight Pipe 22 22 22 

7 1-2-in. Pot, 4-in. Seal 32 32 32 

13-in. Sq. Trap, Fig. 138 21 21 21 

13-in. Sq. Trap, Fig. 141 35 35 34y 2 

13-in. Sq. Trap, Fig. 147 55^ 55]/ 2 

13-in. Spiral, Fig. 178 27 27 27 

11-in. Spiral, Fig. 181 32 32 32 

11-in. Spiral, Fig. 180 32 32 32 

11-in. Spiral, Fig. 182 28 28 

7-in. Spiral, Fig. 185 30 30 29 

The 13-inch spiral trap, tested on the apparatus shown in 
Fig. 190, discharged the 12 gallons of water from the tub 
in less than half the time required by the rectangular trap 
of Fig. 147, 27 seconds being required for the former and 
553^ seconds for the latter. The tank holding 12 gallons, 
the first discharged about two quarts per second, and the 
second less than one quart. Moreover, it required from 5 
to 10 seconds for pieces of paper, small lumps of earth and 
other articles thrown into the water to pass through the 
rectangular trap, whereas these matters were whirled 
through the spiral trap in less than half the time. Heavy 
substances, like small lumps of iron and lead, were retained 
in the rectangular traps, but were always easily and quickly 
whisked through the spiral trap and carried over into the 
waste pipe. 

208 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

Now the scour exerted by the water in passing through 
the reservoir chamber of the spiral trap was found to be as 
effective upon the walls of the chamber as upon the dip of 
the trap proper, because it is in the dip of a trap that heavy 
matters are most likely to be caught and retained, not only 
because the bend is most sudden at this point, but also be- 
cause these matters have here to be elevated by the amount 
of the depth of the seal, while in the reservoir chamber they 
have only to be pushed along a smooth horizontal surface. 

When the waste outlet of a plumbing fixture is very much 
smaller than the area of the waste pipe connected with it, 
the water loses its scouring force and greasy matters will 
gradually accumulate along the walls not only of traps but 
even of the straight waste pipes themselves, as has been ex- 
plained and illustrated in a previous chapter. Now our 
spiral trap is evidently no more able to resist the fouling 
effect resulting from improperly constructed fixtures than 
would be the straight waste pipe itself. But it has this all 
important advantage over a vented S trap, that whereas in 
the latter the vent pipe opening being the first part to be 
clogged by greasy deposits, the whole trapping system be- 
comes at once destroyed, and this without any warning to 
the user ; with the former the sediment being equally dis- 
tributed over the inlet pipe and body of the trap, this re- 
duction of the area of the waterway cannot in any way re- 
duce the antisiphonic character of the trap, because it simply 
converts it into a smaller trap, having the same relative 
properties and principle of action. Indeed the sediment will 
tend to accumulate where the resistance to the scour is 
greatest, which is at the dip, and in this case the area of the 
trap proper will constantly diminish with relation to that of 
the reservoir chamber, in which event the resistance to 
siphonage. will if anything tend to increase rather than 
diminish. 

209 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Therefore the trap will resist siphonage as long as there 
is any water way at all left in the trap. Yet when the dis- 
charge is entirely stopped by sediment, or retarded to a point 
of inconvenience, it will, of course, announce itself and 
necessitate opening and cleansing. 

The same advantage holds in the comparison of this trap 
with a pot trap or any other form of plumbers' trap con- 
structed on the unscientific and faulty "vertical" principle, 
which, strangely enough, is the one on which plumbers' 
traps have always heretofore been erroneously designed. 

As has already been explained in a former chapter we have 
subjected our traps to strains of various degrees of in- 
tensity, the severest being much stronger than any which 
could be encountered in plumbing practice, for the purpose 
not only of proving a degree of resistance beyond all pos- 
sible question on the part of the antisiphon traps tested 
but also of permitting a more thorough comparison between 
the various forms of traps under consideration, and espe- 
cially between unvented antisiphon traps and ordinary S 
and pot traps fully vented in accordance with the present 
plumbing laws. 

It only remains to determine how far it is best to contract 
the horizontal dimensions of our trap in order to obtain on 
the whole in practice the most desirable results. 

Our next experiments therefore were made to decide this 
question. Figs. 181 to 189 inclusive show the various sizes 
of spiral traps experimented upon arranged in the order 
of the tests. 

The endurance of each of these traps is recorded in the 
Table I. The depth of seal in all was the same as in all the 
preceding horizontal traps; i. e., 1% inches. The most that 
could be forced out of the 13-inch spiral trap even after 
numerous successive repetitions of the ordeal was Y§ inch 
in one set of experiments and 17-32 inch in another. 

210 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

The io^-inch spiral (Figs. 180 and 181) lost only y 2 
inch under the same tests. The ioj/-inch spiral trap lost 
9-16 inch. The 834-inch trap lost 7-16 inch and the 7- 
inch lost 9-16 inch, all under the same tests. 





Fig. 180. 



Fig. 1S2. 








Fig. 181. 



Fig. 183. 




Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 





Fig. 18 5. 



Fig. IS 6. 




D 



Fig. 18' 



TO 



Fig. 188 



Experiments were also made with a 6-inch spiral trap, 
and this lost 1]/$ inch after four of these severest strains in 
succession. These strains long continued would have ulti- 
mately broken the seal of so small a trap. But it withstood 
all other strains as shown, and proved itself capable of 
easily withstanding any strains of siphonage which can ever 
be encountered in actual plumbing practice. 

The arrangement of partitions shown in Fig. 184 seemed 
to give results not appreciably different, so far as siphonage 
is concerned, from those of Figs. 180 and 182. But the 
sharp bends between the inlet and the outlet arms somewhat 
increased eddies and the friction in normal use and ob- 
structed the free discharge of heavy substances in the waste 
water. 



212 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

The small opening shown in Fig. 187 between the outlet 
pipe and that part of the spiral which is nearest to it pro- 
duced a scarcely appreciable effect in the siphonage tests. 
It would, however, be objectionable as a cause of complica- 
tion and possible obstruction and its use was abandoned. 

In Figs. 186 and 185 corners were rounded off as indi- 
cated by the black places in the drawings. This reduced the 
resistance to siphonage by so small an amount that its ad- 
vantages in facilitating scour much more than offset the 
loss. In Fig. 186 the bottom of the trap at the inner end 
of the spiral is curved gently upwards in order to do away 
with any sharp corners and barriers. This also improved 
the scouring properties of the trap without appreciable in- 
jury to its resistance to siphonage. 

Before describing our final step it will be interesting to 
record certain curious facts noted in making our experi- 
ments on our horizontal traps not heretofore observed or 
recorded, so far as I am aware. 

For the purpose of studying the movements of waste 
water through very large shallow traps we had the one we 
have shown in Figs. 189 and 195 constructed with a glass 
top, the length and breadth being 13 inches each and the 
depth i l / 2 inches. The seal proper was, as in the other 
cases, only half an inch deep, and the water stood Y inch 
deep in the reservoir chamber when full up to the overflow, 
making a total seal of 1^ inches under normal conditions. 

The actual movement of the water in this trap, under 
both siphonage and friction tests, proved quite different 
from what might naturally be expected. One might sup- 
pose that under the pressure (or "suction" as it is popularly 
called) of a powerful siphoning action, air and water would 
be forced straight across the reservoir from inlet to outlet 
arm along the line of the least apparent resistance, in a 
straight and rapid current somewhat as shown in our figure, 

213 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

with return eddies on each side of the main current. It 
would also be natural to expect some such current to be 
formed when water was discharged through the trap with 
considerable force from a fixture connected up as shown 
in Fig. 190, where we have used a 12-gallon tank set 19 
inches above the trap, to represent normal discharges from 
an ordinary bath tub. 



D 




Fig. 189 




Fig. 189a. 

Plan and section of thirteen-inch trap with- 
out the partitions. 



214 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

The actual course of the water in these cases was, how- 
ever, altogether different from our theoretical assumption. 
Under siphoning action, the course of the water presented 
the appearance shown in Fig. 191. The water was projected 
violently upward from the inlet mouth, and, striking the 




Apparatus for making our 
experiments on 

friction. 



glass top of the trap, was reflected in a strong spray down- 
ward and outward with the formation of bubbles extending 
nearly half way across the trap. 

At the same time powerful waves were set up which 
tended to form rings around the inlet mouth spreading out- 

215 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

wards in all directions to the four sides of the trap about 
as shown in the drawing. 




Fig. 191 



Movement of water in our large flat trap 
under siphoning action. 



□ 




Fig. 192. 
Movement of water in the same trap 
under the normal discharge of water. 
Water from the fixtures it serves. 



It was for the purpose of breaking down these waves in 
the manner already described that we constructed the vari- 



216 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

ous arrangements of partitions in the traps we have il- 
lustrated. 

On the other hand the course of the water under a normal 
discharge of waste water through it from the fixture it 
serves, as from a bath tub represented by the tank in our 
Fig. 190, with which these tests were made, was even more 
at variance with the expected. 

The water, though coming with great force under the 
head shown in the cut, seemed nevertheless to eddy about 
quite leisurely and sluggishly in all sorts of directions, form- 
ing, to all appearances, quite meaningless and uncalled for 
curves and spirals, with occasional unaccountable dartings 
toward unexpected points. It appeared to meander about, as 
one might say, ''with its hands in its pockets," and not by 
any means to rush direct to the outlet opening with the 
frantic haste and decided manner we had confidently ex- 
pected and planned for it. Fig. 192 gives quite an accurate 
idea of the curious antics played by the current. The black 
specks in the drawing indicate pieces of heavy solid matter 
thrown into the water for the purpose of better studying 
its peculiar movements. These at times jumped about quite 
quickly, and at other times lay motionless for a while as 
if deliberately resting for some violent effort a moment 
later. 




Fig. 196. 



217 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Fig. 195 and 196 show our 13-inch glass experimental 
traps in perspective. The large horizontal dimensions of 
the first give it still the cesspool quality, and the figure 
shows how it would clog in time with grease under a 
sink. The second cut shows it divided so as to produce 
the water scour. 

Our fifth and final step consisted in constructing the parts 
of the trap in such a manner as to permit of economical 
manufacture and easy opening and closing for examination 
while in use. Figs. 197 to 200 inclusive show two forms 
adopted, the first being adapted to be placed above the floor 
level and the second below the floor and serving two or more 
fixtures at once, as, for instance, a bath tub and one or 
more adjacent set basins. 

The cover may be made of brass or of tile impervious to 
air and water, of octagonal shape and designed to harmonize 
with the tile or mosaic floor of a modern bath room. This 





Figs. 197 and 198. Spiral Basin Trap. 




Fig. 199. 



Figs. 200 and 201. 



218 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

form, however, the writer has not used, a later form being 
preferable. 

Figs 201 to 205 inclusive give perspective views of these 
traps as they would appear both closed and open. 

The floor trap is shown in Figs. 206, 207 and 208, serving 




o 



Figs. 199 and 200. Spiral Bath and Basin 
Trap, as actually constructed. 




Fig. 204. 

Floor Trap, with Tile Cover, set 

in Tile Work, and made tight by 

a large Elastic Gasket. 



Fig. 205. 

Floor Trap, shown with cover 
and Gasket removed. 



219 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

three fixtures, namely, the bath tub, the basin and also the 
water closet connected with its own deep seal trap. In 
order to permit of this triple service the inlet arm of the 
trap is branched above the floor to take the basin waste 




Fig. 206. 



SP u 



z? 




Fig. 201 




Fig. 208. 




Fig. 209. 
Bath Tub, showing preferable 
arrangement of trap entirely 
above the floor. 



Fig. 209a. 



220 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

pipe, and its outlet arm connects with the outlet of the 
water closet trap. 

If now the seal of this closet trap is made deep enough, 
the shallow trap will protect it unfailingly from siphonage 
by supplying air through its seal to break the siphoning 
action. 

This trap may be constructed under a considerable va- 
riety of forms, as shown in Figs. 210 to 224, to suit varying 
conditions, either the inlet or the outlet pipe passing through 
the centre of the reservoir or refilling chamber as desired. 
Or either arm may be placed out of the centre of the trap, 
as shown in previous drawings. 




Figs. 210 & 211. 



Figs. 212 & 213. 
221 



Figs. 214 & 21o. 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




Seal Retaining Traps. 

Figs. 225 to 227 represent the writer's earlier trap, the 
"Sanitas," which he developed from the pot trap as de- 




ns. 226 



scribed in 1884, 5 and 6, in his little works entitled "Im- 
proved Plumbing Appliances" and "The Principles of House 
Drainage." This trap has been improved upon in the later 
studies herein described which developed the more scien- 
tific "Securitas" device, and in which were avoided the 
defects in the Sanitas of too great a vertical extension and 
too many abrupt and sharp turns. By doing away with 
these objectionable features the "Securitas" trap has at- 
tained a self-cleaning property equal to that of the simple 

223 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

S or ordinary siphon trap, for the bottom of the "Securitas" 
reservoir chamber can be curved upwards at the angle of 
junction with the small cross partition if desired. In prac- 
tice, however, it is found better to leave this angle a little 
abrupt in order that small articles like rings or jewels, 
often accidentally finding their way into a trap, may not be 
swept into the sewer. The corner is too small to constitute 
an objectionable sediment pocket, but just large enough 
and conveniently enough located to safeguard small valu- 
ables without creating any corresponding objections. Be- 
ing directly in the path of the strongest water flush ordin- 
ary sediment and greasy matters will not lodge there. This 
feature is sufficiently appreciated by users to justify its re- 
tention, although it might easily be done away with and all 
corners fully rounded if desired to complete the ideal round 
pipe section throughout. 

Figs. 226 and 227 show most clearly the objectionable 
feature referred to of the too great height of our first trap. 
In consequence of this unnecessary vertical extension, a 
larger proportion of its water seal is forced out under si- 
phoning action than with the later device, which for this 
reason proves more self cleansing with even greater siphon- 
age resistance, and also has the very important advantage 
of forming a simple and perfectly effective back vent for a 
deep seal water closet trap, as already described. 

Figs. 228, 229 and 230 show a few of the experimental 
traps made by the writer before the development of his Sani- 
tas trap, and some ineffectual efforts made in the wrong 
direction to take advantage of the superior specific gravity 
of water over air. by giving the two fluids a rotary move- 
ment within the body of the trap, and attempting to separ- 
ate them from each other by centrifugal force in a vertical 
plane. In these early experiments the mistake was made of 
adhering to the perpendicular construction everywhere 

224 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

adopted at the time and even continued in the Sanitas trap. 
It was only on discovering that the strength and value of a 
trap in every way lay in its horizontal extension that suc- 
cess was finally attained. Had the trap shown in Figs. 228 
to 230 been built horizontally rather than vertically the prob- 
lem would have been settled much»sooner. It is true that 






Fig. 228. 



Fig. 229. 



Fig. 230. 



the principle of the horizontal design was, to some extent, 
followed in the steps leading to the Sanitas trap, but it was 
only partially adhered to in the final form of the trap, and 
yet whatever of success it has had* I attribute chiefly to the 
horizontal element in its design. 

The simplest forms of our "Securitas" trap are shown 
in Figs. 233 to 237. As will be seen by the drawings, all 
parts of the water way have an area substantially equal 
to that of the inlet or outlet pipes, giving it the self- 
scouring principle of the common S or siphon trap. 



*As to this matter, testimony of others known as impartial 
experts may seem to the reader more convincing than any self 
r " n '«(> the author may indulee in. and therefore one or two remarks 
of recognized authorities may properly be quoted here. Col. Waring-, 
ior instance, writes in the "Century Magazine" of the trap as fol- 
lows: "As an incidental result of his experiments on siphonage, 
Mr. Putnam, by gradual stages, arrived at the invention of a trap 
which seems to be a practical one, and which, subjected to tests 
that were sufficient to break the seal of any ordinary trap even 
with fair back ventilation, maintained its seal undisturbed. Mr. 
Putnam's trap, the form of which is illustrated herewith, stands, in 
its normal condition, entirely full of water. Under strong siphonic 



225 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

When constructed of iron white enamelled, both inside 
and out, it forms a very attractive fitting, corresponding 
with the smooth white surfaces of the modern plumbing 
fixtures and bath room tile finish, and like them, it retains 
its smoothness and cleanness indefinitely without the rub- 
bing and polishing required by ordinary metal work, nickel 
plated or otherwise. The shallow construction of the trap 
allows it to go easily between the bottom of a bath tub and 
the floor as shown in Figs. 209 and 367, avoiding the in- 
conveniences attending traps reaching below the floor. Fig. 



action about one-half of this water follows the air toward the 
drain; this amount being - removed, the deflecting- surfaces of that 
portion of the apparatus thus emptied suffice to rob the air-current 
of its spray, and under no test that has yet been applied, with an 
open topped soil pipe, can the seal be broken. The interior of the 
trap is well exposed to view, and the arrangement for cleaning in 
of the glass cap to remove an obstruction would be a very small 
price to pay for the absolute security which Mr. Putnam seems to 
have achieved. Since the above was written, I have tested Mr. 
Putnam's trap, finding it effective in withstanding siphonage and 
substantially self cleansing. It seems to me the best trap that I 
have seen. 

This trap or something like it may probably come into univer- 
sal use for washstands, baths, and laundry tubs — for urinals also 
where separate urinals are used." Further on in the same article 
Col. Waring says: "Not only as confirming my own view, but as 
an illustration of very thorough and careful experimental work, 
attention may properly be called to an investigation carried on 
for the City Board of Health of Boston by J. Pickering Putnam, 
Esq., an architect of that city. These investigations have been set 
forth quite fully in illustrated communications to the 'American 
Architect,' which papers certainly mark a very important step for- 
ward in sanitary literature. The deductions to be drawn from these 
investigations are these," etc. From the "Century Magazine" for 
December, 1884. 

Wm. E. Hoyt. C. E., S. B., Chief Engineer of the B. R. & P. R. 
R. Co. and at one time Chief Engineer of the Massachusetts Board 
of Health, says of the trap and other appliances in an address de- 
livered at the annual meeting of the Academy of Sciences in Roches- 
ter, N. Y., January. ISSfi: "I have briefly sketched, in one place, 
the methods of these scientific investigators. You have seen how 
patiently and cautiously Mr. Putnam has worked in the develop- 
ment of his Sanitas trap; how, step by step, he advanced, applying 
all the time scientific principles in the various successive changes 
of form, which resulted finally in the complete attainment of the 
object he had in view. 

The other ingenious appliances for which we are indebted to 
Mr. Putnam are all of equal merit. I know of nothing to compare 
with them in convenience, efficiency and safety. They should be 
regarded in the same light as valuable discoveries in medical 
science. By the use of these devices we are able to avoid, in a 
great measure the evils resulting ordinarily from bad plumbing." 

The "Sanitary Record" of London writes of the Sanitas trap on 
Sept. 15, 1885: "Mr. Putnam, an architect of Boston, undertook, 

226 



Seal Retaining Traps. 

236 shows its appearance beneath a basin, and Fig. 367 in 
a modern bath room. 

Diagram Fig. 231 shows the strength of the "Securitas" 
trap in resisting siphonage as compared with other traps. 
The record of the eight traps given first in this table is 
taken from that obtained for the City Board of Health, 
except that in this table the loss of water at each siphoning 
strain is given in percentages of the whole seal. The fig- 
ures under each trap show the number of siphoning strains 
or tank discharges applied without refilling. The perform- 
ance of the "Securitas" trap is a record taken under a 
siphonage strain of 20 inches of vacuum on a pneumatic 



some time ago, an extended series of experiments with traps, in 
behalf of the City Board of Health of Boston. These investiga- 
tions were published and illustrated in the 'American Architect' at 
the time, and led to the development of the remarkable trap which 
Mr. Putnam has called the 'Sanitas.' This trap has gained the 
unqualified approval of many of the leading engineers of America. 

"In February of this year Mr. Putnam lectured before the 
Suffolk District Medical Society, on the 'Principles of Sanitary 
Plumbing,' and he exhibited before a large audience an exhaustive 
series of experiments with various apparatus. 

The same journal, in a later issue, publishes a letter of D. J. 
Ebbets, in which he writes: "Now there are several traps that may 
safely be used to defy the severest siphonage encountered in actual 
practice, but only one of these can claim to be self-cleansing — 
namely. Mr. Putnam's Sanitas trap. This trap is extensively used 
in America. It is the best example that we have at present of an anti- 
siplnmic Trap. 

"In America, where, partly on account of the severity of the 
winters it is usual to fix the soil-pipes internally, and to connect 
all waste-pipes with the soil-pipes, it becomes generally necessary 
to ventilate the ordinary S-trap, introducing a complication which 
is very bewildering to the ordinary plumber, and the adoption of 
whirh entails a considerable addition to the cost of the plumbing 
work. Besides this complication and expense, there are certain evils 
which are inseparable from such ventilation; so that in America, 
at any rate, where self-cleansing antisiphonic traps are to be ob- 
tained, it would appear to be rather unwise to continue the use of 
ventilated S-traps." 

Mr. Walter S. Pardee, Supervising Architect of the Board of 
Education of Minneapolis, Minn., writes of the trap that it "stands 
well here, I am glad to say. and the law was changed last fall to 
permit its u^e (unvented) where back ventilation is not desired," 
etc. Other cities have done the same. Mr. Pardee adds: "To tell 
the truth about the matter, I was led to inspect your trap more 
closely than I would otherwise have done, from the fact that it 
appeared to be the result of philosophical inquiry rather than of 
mere guess work. 

To quote further laudatory remarks in favor of the writer's 
appliances would seem to savor somewhat too much of a dealer's 
trade advertisement, and the above will therefore be assumed to be 
sufficient for our purpose of providing a little outside unbiased 
testimony to corroborate the writer's descriptions and contentions. 

227 




S S3 5? 



Seal Retaining Traps. 



testing apparatus. 



The other traps were subjected to 
about 15 inches of vacuum on a hydraulic apparatus. The 
Securitas trap was not tested at the same time with the 
rest, as it was not invented at that time. Later tests on all 
these and other traps show substantially the same results. 
Fig. 232 shows the same strains on the Securitas by a 
different form of diagram. 




Fig. 233. Fi S- -33a. 

As shown in Fig. 233a the water makes only a single 
revolution in passing through the refilling chamber. In 
Fig. 233 a deep seal is used, not for any advantage to the 
traps, but because a deep seal is sometimes called for in 
plumbing laws through the mistaken idea that a deep seal 
is needed for efficiency. 

Figs. 234 and 235 show the appearance of the trap con- 
structed of porcelain enameled steel and Figs. 234a and 
235a show it in nickel plated brass, the latter being piped for 
a running or bath tub trap, and the former for a basin. 

If desired the top cup may be secured to the lower, 
as shown in Figs. 222 to 224, by an upper nut instead of 
by the bolts shown in Figs. 233 to 235. A rubber 
washer under the nut makes a tight joint, and the law 

229 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



which in some places requires all such joints to be under 
water is in the light of modern science clearly unjustifiable. 
Lead caulked bell and spigot joints, which the law allows, 
are scarcely ever tight after use, whereas steam fitters' 
joints with paper gaskets are tight against any pressure. 
Our upper rubber joint is on the same principle, and is, 
moreover, under water pressure at every discharge of the 
fixture which constantly verifies its tightness. 

Porcelain enameling on steel has now been carried to a 
very high degree of perfection as illustrated by its great 
durability in cooking utensils, where it has to stand the 
test of the roughest usage, even holding boiling water on 
a red-hot stove. The usage is not so severe in plumbing. 
Very rough usage will, of course, crack the enamel. 
But equally rough usage will destroy the appearance of 
any ornamented construction. Porcelain enamel is not new 
in plumbing, its use in bath tubs, basins and closets having 
long been successful. It is only new in traps, and with this 
improvement the entire bath room outfit, including walls, 
fixtures, traps and piping may be constructed, harmoniously, 
of white enamel, giving an effect of very great beauty. 




Fig\ 237. 

Fig. 237 shows four fixtures constructed and set with 
the simple piping we have advocated. The simplicity 
of this arrangement is to be compared with the compli- 
cation shown in Fig. 262, page 266, which is reproduced 
from a drawing by Mr. Hoyt to illustrate his interest- 
ing article on safe plumbing published in 1888 in the 
"Popular Science Monthly." The same four fixtures 
are provided in both cases but the cost of the compli- 
cated arrangement is more than double that of the sim- 
ple one. In the former there are 71 joints and in the 
latter only 14. In the former bell and spigot hand 
caulked lead joints are used. The strains on the hubs 

230 




Fig. 234. 



Fig. 234a. 




M ■*-•* 



L_ 



Fis: ?35. 



231 



Iff. 235a. 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




Fig 236. Rearranged from Catalog by Courtesy of Federal Huber Co. 

made by the caulking hammer and the rigidity of the 
joint require here* the use of extra heavy piping. 
Whereas the flexible joints used in the simpler system 
allow of the use of "standard" weight piping with en- 
tire safety. This constitutes still another important item 
of economy. 

232 



CHAPTER XIV. 
The Two Plumbing Systems. 



T 



HERE are, as I have already 
indicated, two schools or sys- 
tems of plumbing which may 
be characterized as the "com- 
plex" system shown in Fig. 
32, and the "simple system" 
of Fig. 33, the first involving 
two or three times as much 
elaboration and expense as the 
second, and rendering it al- 
most impossible for the pros- 
pective purchaser of a house 
to determine whether it is safe- 
ly plumbed or not. 

We have already explained 
some of the reasons why the 
simpler system is the best. A 
public sewer becomes very well ventilated and practically 
safe when its ventilation is effected by making every, house 
drain and soil pipe a ventilating flue. The sewer then has, 
in cities, in addition to the usual public ventilating openings 
on the streets and elsewhere, also special 4-inch suction 
tubes every ten or fifteen feet throughout its entire length, 
assuming the houses on both sides of the street to average 
between 20 and 30 feet in width each. 

The temperature in the houses is at all times either 
warmer, as in winter, or colder, as in hot days in summer, 
than the air of the street and of the sewer, and thus cre- 
ates a constant and thorough sewer ventilation. We have 




233 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

shown somewhat exhaustively that if disease germs are 
brought into our houses in air currents, they come in the air 
outside of the sewers, either above or below ground, and 
not in the sewer air itself, and we know that whatever 
putrescible matter, excepting street washings, is to be 
found in the sewers, comes from the house drains them- 
selves. Assuming, then, that the houses average say 26 
feet wide and 50 feet high, the number of running feet of 
soil and drain pipe in each would average at best not 
less than 100 feet, and the interior surface of this house 
drain pipe being of iron and not so well scoured as the 
glazed inner surfaces of the sewer, would therefore contain 
more decomposing matter than that part of the sewer in 
the street which serves each separate house. It would be 
absurd, therefore, to insert a disconnecting trap and double 
or treble the amount of piping in a house for the mere 
purpose of excluding this extra drain pipe air, even if it 
were not demonstrated that this very complication increased 
rather than diminished the chances of its entrance. More 
than half of this complication is due to the absolutely and 
at all times worse than useless so-called "back vent" system, 
a system founded on misconception and perpetuated by ig- 
norance, prejudice and humbug. Indeed, so far as the sci- 
ence of plumbing is concerned, this system is already a back 
number, for the leading authorities in plumbing and sani- 
tary engineering have placed themselves squarely in oppo- 
sition to it. 

Of course it will be useless to study the various plumbing 
fixtures of a house and the proper methods of connecting 
them up with the piping until we know what that piping 
is to be, and accordingly our first duty is to tackle this 
"back vent" monster and destroy it, for being a thirsty 
creature, it will, if left on guard over us, be certain in time to 
lick the water seal out of our traps, or else, by gorging 

234 



Hydraulics and Pneumatics. 

itself with grease, to lose all consciousness and abandon the 
trap seal altogether to its enemies. 

Like the cholera germ, this most pernicious infliction can- 
not stand light. The science of hydraulics and pneumatics 
is fatal to it and shall form for it our club of extermination. 
The Hydraulics and Pneumatics of Plumbing. 

The agencies which tend to destroy the water seal of 
traps are siphonage, evaporation, back pressure, capillary 
action, leakage and accumulation of sediment. 




Fig. 233. Diagram to illustrate the phenomenon of siphonage. 



Siphonage. 
Our next drawing illustrates the principle of siphonage. 
A trap consists of a U-shaped bend in a pipe forming an 
inverted siphon, as shown on the left-hand side of Fig. 238. 
By filling this trap with water and turning it upside down 
we see that there is no greater weight of water in one 
leg than in the other, and therefore there is no tendency 
on the part of the water to run from one end of the tube 
or siphon more than from the other so long as the two 
legs are of the same length. They both pull down from 
the top with equal force and tend to form a vacuum in the 
bend. But if we lengthen one leg so that the water in it 
becomes heavier than that in the other, it will run out, 
while atmospheric pressure will force the water in the 
short leg up to the top and out of the tube, because though 

235 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the atmospheric pressure at the bottom of the long tube is 
very slightly greater than that at the bottom of the short 
tube, the air column being a few inches longer, this extra 
pressure of air counts as nothing against the weight of 
the same number of inches of water column. Now, if the 
shorter leg of the siphon be dipped in a vessel of water, 
as shown in the illustration, the atmospheric pressure which 
before acted on the bottom of the water in the short leg is 
transferred to the surface of the water in the vessel and will 
act in emptying it down to the bottom of the short leg and 
illustrate the well known action of siphoning. The water 
in the vessel and in the short arm of the siphon constitutes 
a trap. The long arm is the outlet arm of the trap, and 
when water from the basin or any other fixture to which the 
trap is attached flows through the trap and down the long 
arm, it sets up this siphoning action, which will continue 
until the trap seal is reduced to a point slightly below the 
bottom of the short arm of the siphon, or so-called "upcast 
limb," of the trap, thereby breaking the seal. Frequently 
a sufficient amount of water trickles down from the fixture 
and sides of the pipe above the trap after the siphoning 
action to partially restore the seal. This direct action of 
the water of a fixture in breaking its own trap seal by si- 
phoning is called "self-siphonage." 

A more common form of siphonage, however, is illus- 
trated in Fig. 239, where the seal of the trap is broken by 
the discharge of some fixture other than the one to which 
it is attached, and usually in a story above it. Here the 
discharge of a water closet in the upper story destroyed 
the trap seal below ; the falling column of water from the 
upper closet rarified the air in the soil pipe behind it as 
it went. To fill this partial vacuum following the water 
plug air tended to press into the soil pipe through every 
opening. The friction of the rough sides of a tall stack 

236 



The Two Plumbing Systems. 

of soil pipe, even though it be open at the roof, will often 
cause more resistance to air in its attempt to fill this 
partial vacuum than will the inertia of the water in any 
fixture trap below. In the case shown by the picture the 
outer air found a much easier access to the interior of the 
soil pipe through the trap seals than by any other way, 




Fig. 239. Trap Siphoning.* 



and so it broke these seals and thus opened a free entrance 
to soil pipe air into the house. The seal of the upper 
closet would be emptied by the same action. 



♦From "Dangers to Health. A Pictorial Guide to Domestic 
Sanitary Defects," by T. Pridgin Teale, M. A. Pub. by J. J. 
Churchill, London. 

237 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

On the left hand side we see the action of siphonage on 
a lavatory trap caused by the discharge of a bath tub above. 




Pig. 240. Diagram to Illustrate Back Venting. (From Bayles.) 

Three Methods of Protecting Trap Seals. 
Three methods have been employed with a view to pre- 
venting the destruction of the seal by siphonage. The most 

238 



The Two Plumbing Systems. 

natural method and the one which has been used now for 
about a quarter of a century is to ventilate each trap by 
connecting it with a special ventilating pipe constructed for 
the purpose. 

Mr. James C. Bayles describes this method in 1878 in his 
''House Drainage and Water Service," as one would de- 
scribe a method at that time not long established, using a 
cut which I have reproduced here (Fig. 240). It is, how- 
ever, now generally admitted that the vent pipe shown by 
Bayles in the cut could not afford even a temporary pro- 
tection on account of its small size. 

Incidentally it may be said that Mr. Bayles rightly ob- 
jects to the use of a main house trap, saying that in his 
judgment such a trap does vastly more harm than good. 
Among other reasons he gives for this is that it hinders 
the ventilation of the sewer. "When the pressure upon the 
air confined in the sewer," he says, "is increased from any 
cause, it should have an outflow through every house drain. 
When from any cause a partial vacuum is created in the 
sewer, every house drain should be an inlet for air. In 
other words, we should allow the sewers to breathe through 
the main waste pipe of every house, besides giving them 
as many breathing holes in addition as can be provided." 
The waste piping of houses can now be done without dif- 
ficulty so as to secure permanently tight work. 

The second method of guarding against the loss of seal 
by siphonage is to make the body of the trap so large 
that a sufficient quantity of water will always adhere to 
its sides after siphoning to restore a seal. This is the 
principle of the pot or cesspool trap. 

The third method is to construct the trap of such a form 
as to render it both antisiphonic and self cleaning at the 
same time. 

The first method adds enormously to the cost and com- 

239 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

plication of the work and gives rise to greater dangers 
than those it was designed to cure. Nevertheless it has be- 
come popular with many, and is responsible for the so-called 
"trap-vent" law, once excusable because nothing better was 
for some time known, but now worse than absolutely in- 
defensible in the light of our present knowledge, as inviting 
the entrance into our homes of sewer-gas, now that simple 
methods are known for keeping it out. 

In regard to the practical working of trap back venting 
two things have been made clear. First, that it is not always 
efficient in preventing siphonage even when new, and very 
frequently fails when old. And, second, that it is always 
more or less active in destroying the trap seal through 
evaporation. 

The second method is both inexpensive and simple, and is 
much more efficient and reliable in resisting siphoning ac- 
tion than the first. It has, however, the serious disad- 
vantage of involving the use of cesspools or centres of putre- 
factive decomposition in the house, and brings, in the ag- 
gregate, a vast amount of pollution into the public sewers 
tending to frustrate our best efforts in the direction of their 
complete purification. They are also liable to be converted 
by grease accumulation into ordinary S or siphoning traps 
and thus entirely lose their original power of protection. 

The third method is the simplest and least expensive of 
all, and has demonstrated itself to be perfectly reliable and 
satisfactory. Nothing but ignorance and selfish private in- 
terest has stood in the way of its exclusive adoption. 

Let us now examine these three methods carefully in de- 
tail since the question is not only one of the most important 
and interesting ones in the whole domain of sanitary plumb- 
ing, but its investigation will throw light upon every other 
part of our subject. 

240 



CHAPTER XV. 
Trap Testing Apparatus. 



Siphonage and Back 
Pressure. 
P HE trap vent pipe was, as 
* I have said, originally sup- 
posed to afford a reliable 
cure for siphonage, and un- 
der that supposition the 
trap-vent law was made, 
and is in operation in the 
majority of cities and 
towns which have any 
plumbing laws at all. 

For the purpose of test- 
ing the efficiency of the trap 
vent when it is new and 
clean, and therefore at its 
best, Mr. Hubbard has had 
the apparatus erected 
which you see in Fig. 241. 
The cut shows you the en- 
tire apparatus, including 
the parts not visible in the 
room. On the floor of the 
attic space above this lecture hall is our large supply tank, 
having a capacity up to the overflow of 40 gallons of water. 
From the bottom of this tank descends a 2-inch iron and 
glass pipe with two branches at a height of three feet from 
the floor for taking the traps to be tested. The piece of 

241 




Fig. 241. Apparatus for Trap 
Testing- Erected at the North End 
Union for this Course of Lectures. 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

glass pipe is 4 feet long and has been inserted in order to 
enable you to follow the course of the water and study 
the manner in which air mixes with it in its descent from 
the tank under varying conditions of the tank valve vent. 
The valve in the tank is a 2-inch standpipe valve, and 
the top part of the 2-inch waste from the tank is vented by 
an inch pipe, descending to within five feet of the floor 
and, for the present, corked up at the lower end. Below 
the trap branches is a throttle valve by means of which 
we shall be able to illustrate the effect of "back pressure," 
as will hereafter be explained. Below the floor of this hall 
the 2-inch waste passes through the room below and dis- 
charges into a 25-gallon tank below the floor, as shown. 

The tank empties through a 3-inch pipe, which connects 
with the soil pipe at the basement floor, being trapped on 
its way with a 3-inch running trap. 

Now we may suppose that our tank represents a bath 
tub and the 2-inch iron pipe its waste, and that in the 
story below two basin wastes enter this waste through the 
two trap branches which you see, and that our traps are 
intended to serve these two fixtures. So far we have con- 
ditions corresponding to those in actual practice with new 
work where the rooms are very high. 

The siphoning action may, however, if we wish, be made 
considerably more severe than is found in ordinary prac- 
tice by corking up the top of this standpipe valve of our 
tank, which corresponds with the standpipe outlet valve 
of a bath tub, and also corking up the vent pipe coming 
from the top of the 2-inch tank waste, so that no air can 
enter the waste except through the fixture traps to be 
tested. Though in practice it often happens that house 
owners will close up the overflow outlets of their fixtures 
in the fear of "sewer gas" with corks and putty ; and snow 
and frost will frequently close up the vent opening. 

242 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

In order to represent "back-vent" piping we have here 
also some speaking tubing and bends, which we shall apply 
to the crowns of the traps to be tested and by this means 
investigate the effect of friction in retarding the action 
of this back airing. 

By means of this apparatus we shall be able to determine 
(i) whether or not seals of traps in common use can be 
broken even when newly and fully vented and in accord- 
ance with the law, under conditions which can be and 
frequently are encountered in plumbing practice; (2) what 
effect corrosion, incrustation and various forms of clog- 
ging in the pipes have upon the traps seals; (3) the relative 
power of various forms of traps in resisting siphonage, and 
(4) whether any form is capable of resisting the severest 
possible siphoning action that can be encountered in plumb- 
ing practice. 

Before, however, making our experiments with this ap- 
paratus, which will require light in the lecture room, we 
will complete our lantern slide work, comparing our plant 
with those used in my previous experiments for the Boston 
City Board of Health and at the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology and elsewhere, pictures of which will be 
shown on the next two slides. 

This cut (Fig. 242) shows the Board of Health ap- 
paratus. It is composed of ordinary piping erected exactly 
as it is in regular practice in house plumbing. A vertical 
stack of 4-inch soil pipe was erected without bends from 
the outlet above the roof to the horizontal run under the 
basement floor, a distance of 70 feet 9 inches. The soil 
pipe was run up straight in this manner in order to furnish 
the conditions for the severest possible tests for siphonage 
and back pressure. At the same time it formed the arrange- 
ment most commonly met with in practice. The unbroken 
fall of the water through such a pipe evidently creates the 

243 




Fig 242. Apparatus Used in the Experiments Made by the Author 

for the Boston City Board of Health. 

244 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

most powerful compression of the air in advance of it and 
the greatest rarification behind it. 

Just below the fourth floor was placed a large cistern 
44 inches long by 16 inches wide and 15 inches high up to 
the overflow, inside measure ; or of 46 gallons capacity, 
as against 40 gallons capacity, which we have here. The 
cistern served to illustrate the action of a bath tub, by 
having a i^-inch discharge pipe at its bottom trapped 
with a Bower's large sized trap, and entering the soil pipe 
just above the entrance of the water-closet waste. The 
water-closet used was a plunger closet, at that time popu- 
lar. To expedite its filling a large service pipe from the 
cistern was used, and the water was allowed to fill the 
closet through a brass compression-cock. The water- 
closet was supplied with a regular overflow pipe so that, 
when full, its capacity was always the same, i. e., 4^ gal- 
lons. The plunger of this closet having no overflow, its 
operation produced as powerful a siphoning action as is 
possible with any plumbing fixture, and indeed the use of 
plunger closets is partly for this reason gradually dimin- 
ishing everywhere. 

To test the effect on traps below of emptying the tank 
after the manner of a flush tank, a 4-inch outlet valve and 
waste pipe were fitted up in the manner shown. 

Outlets were left on each story below the water-closet 
for testing the traps at various heights on the stack. The 
soil pipe was ventilated at the too full size, and had the 
usual foot vent. Back pressure was generated by the 
bend just below the basement floor. 

In order to permit also of a series of experiments on 
evaporation a 4-inch galvanized iron flue was erected by 
the side of the soil pipe. This flue terminated just below 
the first floor in a galvanized iron lantern, with a glass 
door on its front side. A i>4-inch rubber tube was con- 
nected with the bottom of the lantern, and an anemometer 

245 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

was placed above the point of connection in an enlarge- 
ment made to receive it. The anemometer was so ar- 
ranged and placed that it could measure accurately the 
current of air passing through the rubber tube in either 
direction. The galvanized iron flue could be tested either 
cold or heated by gas-jets, as shown in the drawing. A 
second lantern was placed on the third floor with a similar 
appliance for heating the flue. 

A 13/2-inch lead waste-pipe was connected with the soil- 
pipe just above the basement floor. This branch waste 
had a number of ventilating openings made upon it, and 
a deep seal S trap at its end. The trap had three venti- 
lating openings in its outlet arm, one at the crown and 
the others below the crown, as shown. All the vent open- 
ings both on the trap and on the branch waste were pro- 
vided with small connecting tubes, so arranged that the 
rubber ventilating flue could be readily attached to either. 
The openings were, furthermore, all provided with closely 
fitting corks so that they could be hermetically sealed. 

By this arrangement the effect of ventilation at different 
points of the trap or its waste-pipe upon its water seal 
could be accurately tested. Further tests in evaporation 
were made by connecting a second branch waste below the 
first with a brick flue heated by a stove. 

In order to make an accurate record of these experi- 
ments the diagrams shown in Fig. 244 were made. In these 
the trap seal is represented by a vertical line between two 
circles. The upper circle represents the outlet arm of the 
trap in section, and the lower circle the inlet arm. The 
horizontal lines show the level of the seal after each dis- 
charge. 

The small diagram (Fig. 243) illustrates a simpler form 
of apparatus upon which I made a large number of ex- 
periments on siphonage. I assumed that as severe a test 

246 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

for siphonage to which a trap could be subjected in practice 
would be that which would be sufficient to siphon out an 
8-inch pot trap or a .ventilated S-trap constructed in the 
usual manner. Such a test may be made by connecting the 
trap with a 2-inch waste-pipe from a large bath tub, emptied 
through an outlet large enough to fill the waste-pipe full- 
bore, the waste plug being successively raised and lowered 




Fig. 243. Simple Apparatus for Trap Testing. 

a number of times while the water is escaping. The siphon- 
ing action produced on a i>4-inch branch connected with 
such a waste at a point six feet below the tub is sufficient 
to destroy in one second the seal of a i^-inch S-trap of 
the ordinary construction, having a vent opening at the 
crown, of the same size with the base of the trap (ij4 

247 






Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 
| 
3J 





o © 

a 




7UVMZ 



win I TTT 



Q|Jg , | Q 



*fc*Wlt 



it^^u; 




248 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

inches), and connected with a 1 34-inch ventilating pipe of 
smooth, new lead, sixteen feet long. It will also destroy 
the seal of an ordinary S-trap having a vent opening at the 
crown 24 mcn m diameter, without any vent-pipe attached 
thereto, and will siphon out a pot trap 8 inches in diameter 
having a seal four inches deep. 

The tank in this little apparatus, which in principle re- 
sembles ours here, had a capacity of ioo gallons. The 
waste-pipe was 2 inches in inside diameter like ours, but 
only 6 feet long to the trap branch, while ours is 17 feet 
long to the testing branches. 

The outlet plug, like ours, was large enough to fill the 
waste-pipe full-bore. 

The next figures (245 to 249) give the sections of some 
of the traps tested, the horizontal lines corresponding with 
those in the diagrams. Each test was repeated a number 
of times, the results being each time almost absolutely 
identical. A single discharge of 15 gallons destroyed the 
seal of a 1 34 -inch S-trap vented with a i34 -inch pipe 25 feet 
long, attached at the crown. With this vent-pipe shortened 
to 15 feet two discharges of 15 gallons each broke the seal. 
Shortened to 9 feet 7 discharges broke the seal. 

In the pot traps tests 15 gallons were used at each dis- 
charge. They all lost their seals, as shown, except the 
8-inch pot, tested in the later experiments for the Board of 
Health, to be described in another chapter, which lost all 
but a quarter of an inch of its 334-inch deep seal after the 
tank had been emptied 16 times. The 6-inch pot required 
four and the 4-inch pot two tanks full to break their seal. 

On the Board of Health apparatus, also several other 
traps were tested at the same time with the pot traps, but 
as only two were able to preserve their seals against the 
tests applied, and as most of them had already been tested 
in the experiments made for the National Board of Health 

249 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

and their tests published, by which their power of resist- 
ance as compared with that of a ventilated S-trap and to a 
pot trap, was made known, it was thought unnecessary to 
record the failures again in our tests. 




Fig. 245. S Trap. Fig. 246. 2 in. Pot. Fig. 247. 2% in. Pot. 




Fig. 248. 3% in. Pot. Fig. 249. 8 in. Pot. 

Tests for Siphonage on Traps of Different Sizes. 

The tests for siphonage were made on pot traps unventi- 
lated and on ventilated S-traps, the traps being placed on 
the Y branch outlet on the second floor at a distance of 
about ii feet below the bottom of the water-closet trap, 
since at this point the siphonage proved to be most severe. 

250 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

The tests were made with the closet alone, and also with 
the closet and bath-tub combined. 

The result of the experiments was that the discharge 
of the water-closet was sufficient to unseal the S-trap even 
though it was ventilated at or below the crown in the 
manner prescribed by the plumbing regulations with vent 
pipes of the full size of the trap. It made no material dif- 
ference as to siphonage whether the vent-pipe be applied 
immediately at the crown or at a considerable distance 
below it. Had the pipes been partially clogged by sediment 
or rust the results would, of course, have been even more 
serious. 

An unventilated S-trap was, of course, completely 
siphoned out by a single discharge of the closet, leaving 
only a few drops of water in the bottom of the bend. 

A 1 34 -inch S-trap having a I % -inch vent hole in the 
crown and a 1 34 -inch pipe of smooth clean lead 17 feet 
long attached to the opening, had its seal broken in three 
discharges. 

A 13^-inch S-trap with 1 34 -inch vent, constructed as 
shown in the slide, and having 7 feet of i-inch pipe at- 
tached to one of the vent openings, the others being closed, 
lost its seal after 5 discharges. With a 17-foot vent-pipe 
4 discharges sufficed. When the bath-tub discharge was 
added to that of the water closet a single discharge broke 
the seal with the 17-foot vent-pipe and swept nearly all the 
water out of the trap. 

Experiments on the Pot Traps. 

The pot traps tested on these occasions measured re- 
spectively 2 inches, 2 l / 2 inches, 3 inches, 3^ inches, 4 
inches, 5 inches, 6 inches and 8 inches in diameter, and from 
these tests we found that their power of resistance to siphon- 
ing depends upon their size, and more particularly upon 
the diameter of the body, a half-inch excess of diameter 

251 



Ptttmbing and Household Sanitation. 

affording a very considerable excess in depth of seal. With 
equal depth the resistance will be in direct proportion to 
the diameter. The 2-inch pot lost its seal in one discharge 
of the water closet, a 23^-inch pot in two discharges, a 
3-inch in four discharges, a 33/2-inch in seven discharges, a 
4-inch in seven discharges, a 5-inch in 22 discharges, a 
6-inch in 27 discharges and an 8-inch lost i l / 2 inches of its 
seal in 24 discharges, and would probably have resisted for 
several hundred discharges. In well arranged plumbing, 
however, a pot trap having a body 8 inches in diameter and 
having 1 3/2-inch or i^-inch connections, may be considered 
perfectly safe so far as retaining its seal is concerned, so 
long as its seal is not contracted by deposits. 

An examination of the sectional drawings of all the 
traps will show at a glance the effect of each discharge on 
its water seal, the horizontal lines giving the exact level 
of the water after each discharge. 

The next figure (250) shows the apparatus erected at the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology already referred to.* 
It consisted of a stack of four-inch soil-pipe with two water- 
closets set ten feet above the wastes of the traps to be 
tested. The closets were a Zane and a Jennings, both quite 
popular at the time these experiments were made. The 
soil-pipe had a number of bends to exemplify the bends, 

*Mr. Wm. E. Hoyt, C. E., writes of these tests as follows: 
"A few weeks ago I visited a mechanical laboratory, where, for 
over two j'ears, a series of experiments has been conducted on 
household sanitation. Neither time nor money has been spared to 
make these experiments and investigations thorough and complete. 
Here, several skilful sanitarians have been diligently at work in 
all this time to improve our system of house drainage. One of 
these men is well known in Europe, as wen as this country, by his 
scientific investigations and his writings. Let us see what they 
have been doing. Time will allow a reference to one or two things 
only. 

"These men wished to know just how traps and ventilation pipes 
and other contrivances really worked, under all possible conditions, 
in houses fitted with modern appliance^, and to ascertain this, they 
bought a lot of full sized drain-pipes and ventilation-pipes and 
traps and water closets, and set them up in their laboratory ,1u«t 
; r\ the way thev are put into nur lT"Hi c ec. exe^t thnt the^ ^co^n- 
mized space, as I shall show you by a drawing. (Diagram C.) Fig. 250. 

252 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

more or less of which are usually required in any tall 
building. The vent-pipes are on the right and were of 2- 
inch cast iron pipe, also with bends. Openings were left 
in both stacks of pipe, as shown in the drawing, to permit 
of a great variety of experiments with long and short 
piping, and with from only i up to 8 on the soil-pipe stack, 
and from I to 13 on the trap-vent stack. 

In this way the apparatus was made to correspond with 
that in any form of house we desire to imitate. Some of 
the tests were very severe, but no more so than often en- 
countered in plumbing practice. If we are to be forced by 
the law to put our clients to the great expense and danger 
of ventilating every trap, we have the right to demand, first, 
that the means employed shall actually afford us the se- 
curity it pretends to, and not fail at the first critical mo- 
ment ; and second, that no other simpler and better means 
exist for securing the desired result. 

We found that the discharge of either or both closets 
instantly broke the seal of an unvented S-trap whether the 
soil-pipe were the full length or shortened to half its length 
by opening the middle plug. When the falling water in 
the soil-pipe produces the partial vacuum behind it as it 
descends, if the soil-pipe extension above it is short and 
closed at its top, the action is at its maximum because 

With these great testing- machines they showed the City Board 
of Health of Boston some exceedingly interesting experiments, 
which proved to that august body that their official ideas about 
plumbing fixtures were in many respects entirely wrong. The Bos- 
ton Society of Architects came aiso to see these experiments, and, 
later, they were shown before the Suffolk District Medical Society 
of Massachusetts. The fame of these investigators extended soon 
to Europe; and an earnest request was made by eminent sanitarians 
in England to allow the result of these investigations to be pub- 
lished there in the interests of sanitary science. This important 
work of the laboratory has been under the direction of Mr. J. 
Pickering Putnam of Boston; and I am sure that his experiments 
and investigations are the most comprehensive and thorough and 
valuable that have ever been made on the subiect of household 
sanitation." William E. Hoyt, C. E.. S. B.. Chief Engineer of the 
Buffalo. Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway Company, in an address 
on "Household Sanitation," delivered before the Rochester Academy 
of Sciences, Jan. 11, 1886. 

253 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

there is very little air to expand. If the pipe is short and 
open at the top it is at its minimum. If it is long and 
closed still the action is powerful, but if it is long and open 
above, a medium effect is produced, and this was the con- 
dition we had in these tests. 

We next ventilated our S-trap with a vent-pipe the full 
size of the bore of the trap. Leaving the soil and vent 




Fig. 



250. Apparatus for Trap Testing used at the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology. 



pipes full length, we found three discharges of the two 
closets was sufficient to destroy the seal. Thus we showed 
that with the long stack of pipe our ventilation signally 
failed. We next cut off half the bends and half the length 
of both soil and vent-pipe, leaving a medium length of 

254 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

each of forty-five feet of new pipe, and we found that four 
discharges of the two closets destroyed the seal. 

In the next experiment we broke the seal with two dis- 
charges using a 1 34 -inch vent pipe, and afterwards broke it 
with four discharges on shortening the vent to 15 feet. 
This gave a shorter vent-pipe than we should ever be likely 
to encounter in practice. Hence if the friction produced 
in this short length of pipe is enough to prevent the effect- 
iveness of the vent, anything longer than this would have 
destroyed it still easier. This shows that our expensive 
venting is utterly untrustworthy. In the Boston Board of 
Health tests the same results were obtained by the dis- 
charge of a single plunger closet. 

The tests were made on a 2-inch by 4-inch Y. In our 
experiments for the City Board of Health we were severely 
criticized by 'The Sanitary Engineer" for using a 4-inch 
by 4-inch Y branch, which we were told, would produce 
an action at least four times as powerful as the smaller 
branch. In order to test this point we connected our waste 
with the 4-inch by 4-inch branch shown immediately below 
the 4-inch by 2-inch branch and made preparation to re- 
peat the last test under the new conditions. We cautioned 
the audience who were seated nearest the trap to hold 
firmly to their seats, which had been tightly screwed to the 
floor in order to prevent them from being sucked bodily 
into the drains by the prodigious siphoning power of the 4- 
inch by 4-inch branch claimed by "The Sanitary Engineer." 
On discharging the closets, however, we found no ap- 
preciable difference in the two Ys, and the gentlemen in the 
first row were then advised that they could confidently re- 
lease their hold upon the furniture. 

When the mouth of the vent-pipe has become partially 
closed by the gradual deposit of sediment, the supply of 
air through it is proportionally retarded, and it becomes 

255 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

less and less of a safeguard against siphonage. We had 
made a great many experiments in this field and found the 
resistance exactly proportioned to the size of the vent-pipe. 
The stack of pipes shown in Fig. 251 shows a trap 
vent pipe 125 feet long in a tall apartment house, which 
in compliance with the building law I was obliged to specify. 
As you see by the drawing the lavatories are placed over 




Fig. 251. Trap Vent Pipe 125 ft. long in a tall Apartment House. 



one another in such a position that the distance from their 
traps to the main ventilated soil pipe is not over 18 or 20 
inches. These short branch wastes were powerfully flushed 
at each usage of the fixtures by a stream of water filling 
them "full bore," and discharging at the rate of nearly half 
a gallon a second. Traps were specified which cannot by 
any possibility be siphoned out, nor even have their seals 

256 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 




/fa</A//3 Tftsrp SxS 



S-trap A had a vent as marked Vent Nu.2; all other traps were ventilated by the stop-cock attached 
to Y-branch B, where all traps were tested. 

With Vent No. 2 open and stop-^ock closed, it was not possible to remove any water from the S-trap, 
but with Vent No. 2 closed and stop-cock open, the seal of the trap was broken S-trap with vent show* 
the form of trap which the committee recommends. 

Trap E was placed on Y-branch D to show back pressure, but Y-branch D, as well as Y-branch C 
was closed during experiments on syphonage. 

Fig-. 252. Worcester Trap Tests. 

seriously lowered. No better illustration of the wasteful- 
ness of this requirement could be found. The owner in this 
case lost over a thousand dollars for the privilege of serious- 
ly endangering through evaporation, the water seal of every 



257 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

trap which is not kept constantly in use throughout the 
hotel. 

Fig. 252 shows the apparatus used in the Worcester ex- 
periments, and Fig. 253 is an illustration of some of the 
dangers incurred by the use of the trap vent-pipe. 




Fig. 253. Trap Vent System in a Tall Building. 

The master plumbers of Worcester made some tests on 
the apparatus shown here. The S-trap shown on the highest 
branch was tested for siphonage, and its seal broken when 



258 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

ventilated through the ij4~inch vent next the soil pipe, the 
vent No. 2 being closed. 

This cut (Fig. 253) was used to illustrate a paper on 
trap ventilation I read before the Boston Society of Archi- 
tects in 1891. The top of the vent-pipe is shown clogged 
up by frost. One of the basin trap vents is trapped by a 
sag in the pipe, and the mouth of the sink trap-vent is 
clogged by grease. 

In regard to the partial or total closure of the mouth of 
the "back vent" pipe by grease deposits, it is not even neces- 
sary that one should have had any experience in plumbing 
work at all to enable him to realize the importance of this 
item in condemnation of the back vent law. One would 
have to go back several eras beyond the dark ages to find 
any one who had not observed how melted grease congeals 
upon a cold surface and how tenaciously it adheres thereto. 
The first savage who knew enough to roast his meat over 
a fire and serve it on a stone was perfectly familiar with 
these properties of melted grease, and would not have to 
ask a "sanitary plumber" if it would deposit itself along 
the walls of a cold waste pipe under a kitchen sink. Let 
us reason at least as much as the primitive savage and find 
out why the framers of our plumbing laws ignore these 
simple lessons in physical science. Every plumber has seen 
vent pipes fouled by greasy deposits, which often com- 
pletely close up its outlet and sometimes fill it solid full for 
several inches beyond its mouth. 

It is sometimes urged that these deposits can, from time 
to time, be removed. Evidently. But in practice this sim- 
ple remedy is oftener neglected than observed, partly be- 
cause the inside of the vent pipe mouth is usually rather 
inconvenient of access ; partly because whatever danger 
there may be from such deposits is seldom announced to 

259 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the house owner until it is too late ; and partly because, as 
a matter of fact, where a reasonably good form of trap is 
used, a clogged vent pipe is, like a dead Indian, a safer and 
better thing to have in the house than one which is free 
and fully equipped for business. 

In any case, it is beginning to be understood by students 
of sanitary engineering who have as much as one eye open 
that a device intended for protection, which requires more 
watching than the thing it was designed to protect, affords 
but a false sense of security, and in this instance often leads 
to the use of traps which possess no power in themselves 
to withstand the action of siphonage when the vent pipe 
becomes inoperative. Therefore, when the public are com- 
pelled to back vent all the traps, they are obliged to incur 
also the expense of using antisiphon traps as well 

Advocates of the back venting of traps will frankly admit 
that traps having large unscoured areas, often called "cess- 
pool" traps, like the old fashioned D trap, or very large 
pot traps, are objectionable, especially under kitchen or 
pantry sinks on account of the accumulation of grease and 
dirt in these unscoured parts. 

Now, the vent mouth opening, being entirely outside of 
the waterway of the trap, must receive even less scour than 
any part of the waterway of a cesspool trap. As a matter 
of fact, the mouth of the vent pipe will clog much more 
quickly than any part of a cesspool trap, because the warm, 
fatty vapors are drawn up into the vent pipe and there de- 
posit and congeal more or less grease along its cool sides 
at varying distances above its mouth, thus adding to the 
deposits caused by splashing and liquid contact. In short, 
the mouth of the vent pipe forms an unscoured "pocket" 
far more dangerous than any of those other pockets now 
universally condemned, which constitute the one great char- 
acteristic feature of all "cesspool" traps. 

260 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

Writers on plumbing who advocate "back venting" hold 
that the simple "S" trap, being self-scouring, is the best to 
use when protected from siphonage by back venting, and 
they are fond of illustrating this "excellent" combination 
by a diagram like our Fig. 254. 

But these same writers are also fond of telling us that 
cesspool traps, like the old fashioned D traps, or like large 
"pot" and "bottle," and all "mechanical" seal traps, having 
large unscoured chambers in their waterway, are certain 
in time to become more or less clogged, especially under 
sinks, on account of these unscoured areas or "sediment 
pockets," and they explain correctly how they gradually 
become converted into "S" traps by illustrations like Figs. 
255 and 256. 






Fig. 254. 



Fig. 255. 



Fig. 256. 




Fig. 257. 





Fig. 259. 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

They are perfectly right in the matter of the gradual 
filling up of all unscoured pockets. Why, then, do they 
so carefully avoid showing this clogging in the mouth of 
the back vent pipe at the crown of the "S" trap? Under 
what law of physics or chemistry, or by what miraculous 
intervention or friendly influence has this, the most un- 
scoured pocket of all, escaped contamination altogether, 
when all the other pockets shown in the cesspool traps 
have been packed full? And why do they always entirely 
avoid showing the "back vent" pipe in their representations 
of the befouled "cesspool" traps when they drag them out 
to be soundly and very properly lashed by their criticisms? 

A truthful representation of these various traps should 
show them equipped with the back vent pipes required by 
the present law, when they would appear as in Figs. 257 
to 259, inclusive. 

The public have been hoodwinked so long by the misrep- 
resentations of these writers that we sometimes feel like 
doubting the famous assertion of Abraham Lincoln that you 
can not deceive "all the people all the time." 

For an intelligent nation like ours to have swallowed the 
"back vent" humbug for a quarter of a century in this pro- 
gressive age seems dangerously near a refutation of the 
saying we have always taken such pride in quoting. 

The best and perhaps the only way to prevent grease ac- 
cumulations in traps and throughout the entire waste pipe 
system is to require the use of fixtures everywhere con- 
structed on the principle of the flush tank. 

The result of the reading of this paper was a unanimous 
vote on the part of the Boston Society of Architects to 
forward to the proper city authorities a recommendation 

262 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

to repeal the back vent law. A committee was appointed 
and counsel employed to attend to the matter. The efforts 
of the society, however, in this direction have never met 
with success, and they have not ascertained with entire 
certainty from what source the opposition came. 




Fig. 



260. Complicated Piping- in a House on 5th Ave., New York. 



The next two cuts present a few illustrations of unneces- 
sary complication in plumbing. The first (Fig. 260) shows 
the piping of a slop sink in a house lately built on Fifth 
avenue, New York. The sink forms one of four built over 
each other in successive stories, and all the pipes shown 

263 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

in the drawing are built for their service. Each sink is 
vented just below its strainer into a large galvanized iron 
ventilating flue. The trap is vented into a 3-inch cast iron 
flue. A lead safe is used under the sink at the floor and 
connects with a 1 Y\ -inch iron pipe leading to the cellar. 
So much for a slop sink. 

No expense has been spared to render the mechanical 
part of this job perfect, and it is, in fact, a very beautiful 
piece of workmanship. Yet it is not good plumbing. In 
the first place the trap seal is trebly besieged for evapo- 
ration. In the second place no proper means of flushing 
the apparatus has been provided. In the third place the 
outlet and trap vent pipes, which both enter cold flues, are 
worse than useless. In the fourth place the safe and its 
waste pipe are superfluous ; and in the fifth place the whole 
fixture is an unnecessary nuisance in a private house. Even 
where a proper flushing rim is provided for slop-hoppers 
servants will not make proper use of it, and the fixture soon 
begins to emit a disgusting odor 

I have added a house trap vent pipe and an interior rain 
water conductor, because these are common accessories. 
To be consistent the lead safe waste pipe should also be 
vented, for if it is ever to come into service at all its service 
will consist in carrying off dirty water. A trap at its bot- 
tom will inevitably soon have its stagnating seal evaporated 
out, and air from the basement will rise through it into 
the rooms, carrying with it the impurities coming from the 
entire length of the pipe. With a simpler system of plumb- 
ing one of the chief objects of a safe and its waste pipe 
would be eliminated, and this item of expense, complication 
and danger would be avoided. 

The next cut (Fig. 261) shows a portion of a wash basin 
and bath-tub in another New York residence. Part of the 
casing has been removed to show the work. What wonder 

264 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

that the poor plumber makes his frequent and serious blun- 
ders in the connection of his pipes — "by-passes" — so called! 
What wonder that the unhappy house owner becomes utter- 
ly discouraged at the sight of all this confusion, and thence- 
forth resolves to make it his chief mission in life to dis- 
suade his friends from indulging like him in the luxury 
o f set plumbing! 

The money thrown away on all this worse than useless 




Fig". 261. Complicated Plumbing- in another New York Residence.* 

piping should have been devoted to obtaining stronger and 
better fixtures, setting them in a handsome and workman- 
like manner and cooperating with the city fathers in in- 
stalling a scientific and beautiful system of street sewers. 

Finally Fig. 262* shows in perspective still another illus- 
tration of the extravagances complication has introduced 
into plumbing work. It is from a house in New York City 
and this one part of it contains 72 joints. In another place 
I shall show how better results could have been attained 
with 16 joints. 

Another illustration of trap testing apparatus upon which 
interesting experiments on siphonage have been made is 
given in Fig. 263. This apparatus was used at the Museum 



*Figs 261 and 262 from "Safety in House Drainage,' 
Hoyt, C. E., in Pop. Science Monthly for July, 1888. 

265 



by W. E. 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

of Hygiene, U. S. Navy Dept., at Washington, and they 
showed substantially the same results as the experiments 
already described. 

We see in Fig. 264 again some of the many ways in which 
the back vent pipe fails especially in the modern "sky- 




Fig. 262. Complicated Plumbing- in a New York Residence. 



scrapers." Clogging with grease is shown over the sink 
trap in the top story, which is now known to be so very com- 
mon. At every quick bend under a long vertical run of 
iron vent pipe rust is certain to collect in large quantities 
as shown in the basement. A comparatively small amount 
of flaking-off of rust or sediment in such a place, especially 
with such tall stacks, may quickly destroy the efficiency of 
even the largest-sized vent pipes. Sagging, as shown higher 
up on the tenth story, is another frequent cause of failure. 

266 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

Water and sediment collect in the sagged portion, and fail- 
ure is the result. Finally hoar frost and snow often close 




Fig. 263. 



Apparatus for Trap Testing Used al the Museum of 
Hygiene at Washington. 



the upper opening of the pipe above the roof, producing 
again failure. When the main house trap is omitted frost 
cannot accumulate at the top of the main soil pipe because 



267 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



larye2y Jut 7, obsh-ucTfTX of- ' Je, 
Vl7l7tla.Zi.on / 

H 



J which flushes .W/foe^ i J ROOf J 




7tp-4 Present 

T7nscien?i/ic ^Urisafe, 

Method 



Setoer 



~Fl(/2s. Jmfivved, 

Scientific^ Simp/e 
and Safe A?ett 



Fifct. 264 and 265. Two Diagrams comparing- together the Complex 
and Simple Systems in a Modern Tall Office Building. 
From the "Inland Architect and News Record" for Oct., 1905, article 
by J. P. Putnam. 

268 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

the warm air of Hie sewers will then constantly rise through 
the pipe and would melt any snow as fast as it could form. 
But the back vent pipe could not be so protected when it 
ascends independently through the roof. The introduction 
of an intercepting trap at each building destroys the only 
practical and effective method now known of ventilating 
the sewers and rendering the air within them absolutely in- 
nocuous. Hence this trap becomes the sole creator of the 
nuisance it was designed to prevent. 

The chances of leakage in the back vent pipe are evident- 
ly increased in proportion to the increase of piping, and, 
what is more important still, no water flush passes through 
the vent pipes to announce to the eye the presence of leaks, 
and consequently the mischief may go on without the 
knowledge of the occupants. 

It does not seem to occur to our lawmakers that a back 
vent pipe between thirty and forty stories high would have 
to be enlarged so much to offset friction as it climbed up 
from story to story that there would hardly be any room 
left in the upper stories for the occupants unless they 
planned to do their business inside the pipe itself. An en- 
largement such as is shown in our cut, which is simply 
taken from the sizes required in common practice, would 
be ridiculously inadequate. The modern skyscraper is per- 
forming at least one useful service in bringing the back vent 
law to a "Reductio ad absurdum." Thus it may be said 
that the rolling mill is cooperating with the microscope in 
revolutionizing the practice of sanitary engineering, since 
to the latter we owe the discoveries in bacteriology which 
have, almost within the last decade, sufficed to fundamentally 
alter our views as to the nature and proper treatment of 
sewage; and to the former the astonishing development of 
high building which is opening our eyes to the folly of over- 
complication. 

269 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 



Thus one evil involves another. Unnecessary complica- 
tions exact others which are necessitated by them, and a 




FiFT. 268. 



departure from the all-important rule that "other things 
being equal the simplest is the best" is certain to result 
in an endless train of cares and troubles. 



271 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

The next figures show the apparatus used by S. Stevens 
Hellyer of London* in 1882 for testing traps for siphon- 
age. Three slop sinks were fitted up with 1 ^4-inch cast 
lead traps, as shown in Fig. 267, and attached by i>4-inch 
branches to the main vertical waste pipe, also i^-inch in 
diameter. A pailful of water thrown into the upper hopper 
siphoned % of an inch out of each of the two lower traps. 
Another pailful unsealed them. When the air pipe at the 
top of the main waste pipe was stopped up this discharge 
of the top sink also siphoned its own trap. 

Mr. Hellyer then ventilated each trap as shown by the 
dotted lines, and repeated the tests. This time scarcely a 
sixteenth of an inch appears to have been drawn out of the 
lower traps, although the water was vibrated in them. 

With a trap at F at the bottom of the stack, back pres- 
sure was so great at the lower sink trap that it forced a 
spray of water 12 or 18 inches from the trap out into the 
sink. 

Fig. 268 shows another arrangement used by Hellyer in 
his experiments. The perpendicular main waste pipe was 
here 2 inches in diameter and had three 2-inch branches, 
the upper for a bath, the middle for a slop-hopper and 
the lower for a wash basin. The middle branch had also 
several different sized traps on it. 

When the traps were not ventilated each of them could 
be unsealed by the discharge of the bath tub. Indeed all 
four of the lower small traps were unsealed at once, but 
these ventilated the large trap on the middle branch and 
protected it partially. But it also lost an inch of its seal. 

When the traps were ventilated, as shown by the dotted 
lines, only one trap lost any water. This was the trap U, 
which lost l A of an inch. 



* "Lectures on the Science and Art of Sanitary Plumbing," 
London, 1882. 

272 





Fig. 269. 
273 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

(7) Had he known the inevitable consequence of the law 
in introducing unintentional defects and by-passes, mistakes 
which have alone vastly more than offset any possible ad- 
vantages back venting could provide. 

Mr. Hellyer would have found several other very serious 
objections to trap venting which I have referred to in other 
places. 

Mr. Hellyer's conclusions and recommendations resulting 
from these experiments were that every trap should be 
"back vented," and it is probable that this hasty conclusion 
and the wide circulation his publications enjoyed are largely 
responsible for the tremendous mistake of the trap vent law, 
a mistake which, regarded from the standpoint of pecuniary 
loss alone, has already cost the public hundreds of millions 
of dollars. 

Mr. Hellyer would have found his vent pipes would have 
failed to protect the trap seals under any of the following 
conditions : 

( 1 ) Had the vent pipes been partially reduced in area 
by sediment deposit at the bottom or by frost at the top, or 
by rust anywhere in its length. 

(2) Had the overflow pipe of the bath tub been plugged 
as is very frequently the case. 

(3) Had the modern siphon jet or other closets having 
a strong and rapid flush been used in the tests. 

(4) Had the vent pipe been very long and rough or 
contained an unusually large number of sharp bends. 

(5) Had the experiments been prolonged sufficiently to 
try the effect of evaporation in the trap seals produced by 
the ventilating current. 

(6) Had he investigated capillary action. 

274 




Fig. 271. Author's Pneumatic Trap Testing Apparatus. 
275 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

It must be borne in mind that the value of our tests 
lies in showing not only the absolute but also the rela- 
tive power of resistance of unventilated anti-siphon traps 
and the ventilated S trap. In making a comparison 
it would not be sufficient nor conclusive to show that 
unventilated anti-siphon traps are as efficient as the 
vented S under certain moderate strains. Their value can 
only be fully demonstrated when it is shown that they are 
superior to the vented S, not only under moderate but under 
every possible condition that can be encountered, and even 
under strains greater than are met with in ordinary prac- 
tice, and clearly the larger the range of tests the more con- 
clusive the comparison. We should be justly open to criti- 
cism if, in making our tests we stopped anywhere short of 
a thoroughly comprehensive and exhaustive comparison of 
all forms of traps under every form of strain, from the 
mildest to the severest which could be applied. 

We have found that a single discharge of about four gal- 
lons from our tank was able to break the seal of our i%- 
inch S trap with a 1*4 -inch clean new vent pipe only 6 feet 
long and having upon it a single return bend. And we 
found that the same trap could be siphoned out by two such 
discharges with a 6-foot vent pipe roughened on the interior 
surface as by rust even without any bend at all on the pipe. 
This test was made with the air pipe under the tank valve 
closed as by sediment or frost. Our air pipe takes the place 
of a ventilated trap under a bath tub, to which our tank 
corresponds. The overflow to the tank was closed as is 
sometimes done with the overflow pipe of bath tubs. 

We then tested the vented S, with the air pipe open, and 
found that its seal could be broken by two discharges of 
four gallons each, the length of the trap vent pipe being 
18 feet and having two return bends. 

Now it is not necessary for us to show whether or not 
this strain was more severe than was ever possible in 

276 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

plumbing practice, because our chief purpose then was to 
compare the vented S with other traps unvented, and we 
found in our experiments that our 5-inch pot trap was 
able to withstand without loss of seal more than a dozen 
discharges made under precisely the same conditions as 
were applied to the vented S, including the very severest. 

The superiority of the large sizes of our unvented pot 
traps over the vented S in the matter of resistance to 




Fig. 273. 

siphonage was, therefore, absolutely demonstrated under 
conditions in which the whole apparatus was comparatively 
new. 

Our contention is, then, that an unvented pot trap of 
large size is safer as a protection against siphonage than 
a vented S, and that the former will retain its power of 
resistance to siphonage longer than the vented S. In 
places where grease or other sediment is liable to collect 

278 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

in the scouring waterway of traps, it is still more liable 
to collect in the unscoured mouth of the vent pipe, and 
the pot trap cannot be clogged by frost, whereas the vent 
pipe can and often is so closed. 

In every other respect the superiority of the unvented 
anti-siphon trap system over the vented S system is too 
evident to need further discussion. 

Each state board of health should be equipped with 
some simple form of testing apparatus like that shown in 
Fig. 271 or like the pneumatic apparatus recently devised 
by the writer and shown in Figs. 272, 273 and 273a. 

They may be made by any plumber or coppersmith with- 
out difficulty in a few days. A very considerable economy 
can be realized if several duplicates of the apparatus are 
made -at the same time. 

In all the demonstrations in siphonage of which I am 
aware up to the present time, the tests have been made 
by hydraulic apparatus, such as have been herein exempli- 
fied. But of late I have found that a pneumatic apparatus 
permits of a much greater accuracy of determination, espe- 
cially in making comparative tests. By using a suction 
pump, as shown in Figs. 271, 2.^2 and 273, we are able 
to reproduce at will any degree of rarification in the soil 
pipe desired to correspond with the varying conditions 
encountered in plumbing practice, as well as strains far 
beyond the usual ones for the purpose of comparing dif- 
ferent traps and systems of plumbing with one another, 
and a vacuum gauge enables us to apply precisely the same 
degree of vacuum to every trap tested, so that results of 
great accuracy and scientific value are obtainable. 

Of course, it will be objected at first thought that the 
pneumatic test does not reproduce in actual form the pre- 
cise phenomena encountered in ordinary plumbing work, 
but a little reflection will show that the results are identical 

279 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

so far as they affect our inquiries. The agency which 
produces siphonage is the partial vacuum in the soil pipe, 
and this rarification is effected by the rapid movement of 
a piston. Whether the piston be in the barrel of a pump 
or whether it be in the soil pipe itself is altogether im- 
material so far as concerns the effect of the partial vacuum 
on trap seals. The pneumatic apparatus possesses the great 
advantage over the hydraulic of enabling us to vary the 
force of the strain applied to the traps to any extent de- 
sired, while only one degree of rarification can be obtained 
by the falling water plug in any one plant. The siphoning 
action in both cases is extremely rapid, almost instantaneous. 

In the case of the falling water piston, the action takes 
place in the flash of time required for the piston to pass 
by the small mouth of the branch waste pipe serving the 
trap. A fraction of a second suffices for this. 

In the case of the air pump apparatus the speed of the 
action is measured by the time it takes to move the valve 
lever connecting this branch waste pipe with the soil pipe. 
This requires but a fraction of a second, and the speed may 
be regulated to correspond accurately with the hydraulic 
action. Moreover, a vacuum gauge may be applied to the 
soil pipe in both kinds of apparatus and thus the action 
may be proved to be in both cases identical in speed, power 
and effect. The duration of the siphoning strain may be 
increased by increasing the size of the main pipe represent- 
ing the soil pipe from which the air is to be exhausted. 

In order, however, to be satisfied as to the similarity of 
the effect produced on the gauge and trap seals, one has 
only to have erected side by side apparatus of both kinds, 
as the writer has done before several audiences, and it will 
be found that when the vacuum gauge registers the same 
degree of rarification in both soil pipes, the effect on the 
traps in each is the same. 

280 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

It is possible on our pneumatic apparatus to produce a 
strain equal to a vacuum of twenty-six inches, and yet we 
find the large sizes of drum traps and other anti-siphon 
traps capable of resisting, unvented, this strain even many 
times repeated without refilling. The first application of 
the strain lowers the seal considerably, the second and third 
less, and thereafter subsequent applications without refill- 
ing have little effect upon it, and finally a point is reached 
when no appreciable further reduction can be attained, 
however often the strain is repeated 

The vented S trap, on the other hand, is incapable of 
resisting a vacuum of a single inch when the vent pipe is 
long and crooked, or when it is partially roughened or 
closed by deposits. A few inches of vacuum will destroy 
its seal even when the vent pipe is new and clean and as 
short and straight as it is possible to make it in practice. 

The apparatus shown in Figs. 271 to 273 inclusive are 
easily and cheaply constructed of brass tubing, polished 
and nickel plated, with a vacuum pump constructed 
with special accuracy so as to enable it to produce and 
maintain a vacuum as perfect as is possible. There is, 
therefore, no excuse for any board of health or plumb- 
ing inspector's office to be without such a plant, be- 
cause its use would demonstrate the folly of the trap vent 
law and save to the citizens, by its repeal, more than the 
entire cost of the apparatus in a single good-sized building. 

Fig. 273 is a very small, compact form of portable ap- 
paratus devised by the writer for lecture service. It meas- 
ures less than two feet in height and if constructed of alumi- 
num may be very conveniently transported by hand in a 
canvas or light leather case. 

A simple hydraulic apparatus may be constructed and 
used side by side with the pneumatic outfit where it is 

281 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

desired to demonstrate the identity of the results pro- 
duced by the two systems. But, as before said, the use- 
fulness of the hydraulic plant is limited to a very narrow 
range of tests and it is less accurate and comparatively 
unscientific. It involves, moreover, the consumption of a 
very large amount of water where the pneumatic plant 
can be operated without any expense whatever. 




Fig. 273a. 



Fig. 273a represents another form of apparatus for lec- 
ture service. Its action is entirely automatic. A small 
electric driven pump shown at the lower tank raises the 
water continuously from this to the upper tank by the elec- 
tric current taken from an ordinary electric light fixture, 
through the small pipe shown at the left side of the tanks. 

When the upper tank if full it discharges automatically, 

282 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

and its discharge operates alternately the valves connecting 
the traps with the central waste pipe so as to produce upon 
them the siphoning action, and thus makes simultaneously 
a comparative as well as an absolute test of any traps de- 
sired. The central ratchet wheel governs the siphoning 
and refilling of the traps. The action continues as long as 
the current is kept on, and the tests are thus made at a 
minimum of expense with a maximum of convenience. 

With either of these simple forms of testing apparatus 
one stands entirely independent of outside testimony as to 
the relative efficiency of the trap venting and of the anti- 
siphon systems, and can see for himself in a few minutes 
the truth in such controversies as have been published, rela- 
tive to the Worcester tests, for instance. 

There is no excuse whatever for any doubt in the mat- 
ter, and no one thereafter would dare to publish any in- 
accurate or misleading statements in this very important 
domain, knowing that any board of health or building in- 
spector's office can authoritatively refute such misstate- 
ments at once. In order to make the tests of the efficiency 
of different traps on our pneumatic apparatus, it is neces- 
sary to first close all the stop cocks shown in the drawings 
by wheel or lever handles between the traps and the main 
pipe, and exhaust the air in this pipe by means of the 
vacuum pump, until the vacuum gauge shows the degree 
of rarification desired to correspond with what would be 
encountered in any case of plumbing to be represented. 

After filling the traps with water, one opens the stop- 
cock between the trap to be tested and the pipe system, so 
as to allow air passing through the trap to break the par- 
tial vacuum therein. This air will follow the path of the 
least resistance. In the case of the S trap the special air 
vent pipe is provided between the trap seal and the waste 
system under the supposition that it will present an easier 
path for the air than the trap itself, in which the water seal 

283 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

might be expected to afford greater resistance to the air 
passage than the friction of the sides of the vent pipe. 

The apparatus shows that this is not the case. The 
ordinary lavatory S trap is shown on the right-hand side 
of the apparatus vented at the crown with a "back vent" 
pipe the full size of the bore of the trap, and of consider- 
able length, but having openings at different points pro- 
vided with stop valves to show the effect of longer or 
shorter vent pipes in plumbing work. The longer the vent 
pipe and the greater the number of bends in it, the greater 
the obstruction by friction to the passage of the air through 
it, and the lower its efficiency as a means of protecting the 
trap seal from siphonage. 

It is evident, therefore, that the degree of vacuum in the 
pipe system required to break the seal of a vented S trap is 
inversely proportional to the length and diameter of the vent 
pipe, and our apparatus is designed to show the effect of 
any possible degree of vacuum on any possible length and 
size of vent pipe, and it will again be seen on this apparatus 
that the seal of an S trap can be broken by a vacuum con- 
siderably below that which may be obtained in ordinary 
plumbing practice, even when the trap has a perfectly clean 
vent pipe of moderate length, provided a few bends are 
introduced in running the vent pipe. 

If the friction is increased by more or less clogging the 
siphonage is by so much easier. 

The only weak point in the employment of the ordinary 
unvented "pot" or "drum" trap of large size as a substitute 
for the system of back venting is that such a trap is not 
self-scouring. 

This weak point is referred to by advocates of back vent- 
ing as sufficiently important to justify the condemnation 
of the whole system of unvented trapping, 

284 



Trap Testing Apparatus. 

We have explained the fallacy of this argument by show- 
ing that the vent pipe is still less self -scouring, and that, 
once clogged, it can not be so easily cleansed. Neverthe- 
less, it must be admitted that the cesspool element in all 
reservoir traps is a very undesirable feature, and that not 
the least of its objections is the fact that it furnishes the 
opposition with an argument, however inadequate, against 
the use of the simpler system of plumbing. 

Moreover, the use of cesspools in a system of house drain- 
age is contrary to the first principles of sanitary engineer- 
ing, and an evil which may be of comparatively slight im- 
portance when confined to the small proportions of a single 
fixture trap, becomes of very great importance when multi- 
plied by thousands or hundreds of thousands in the complete 
drainage system of an entire city or town. 

It is also perfectly true that the clogging up of the ordi- 
nary drum trap converts it in time into an S trap, and 
completely deprives it of its anti-siphon feature. So long 
as it is allowed to remain clogged, a system based upon the 
use of such traps loses its efficiency and, however far su- 
perior it may be to the "back vent" system, it can not yet 
lay claim to permanent efficiency with automatic action. 

Hence it is all-important to know if the cesspool element 
of the common anti-siphon trap can be eliminated and the 
self-scouring property of the simple S trap or of a straight 
piece of smooth pipe of equal area can be combined with 
the anti-siphon quality of the ordinary drum trap. 

For over a quarter of a century persistent and untiring 
efforts have been made to attain this combination, until at 
last it became generally believed that the two requirements 
were really antagonistic to one another, and that the solu- 
tion, therefore, was as impossible as the discovery of flexible 
glass or transparent rubber, a large body of water and a 
deep seal being assumed to be necessary to withstand siphon- 

285 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

age and the exact reverse being needed to produce the 
maximum of self-scouring effect. 

It was found that resistance to siphonage increased with 
the increase of water head in the seal of the trap, and it is 
sufficiently evident that even in an S trap a seal deep enough 
to balance the weight of the atmosphere, say 32 feet, would 
be able to resist any siphoning action which could be brought 
to bear upon it, since Nature's abhorrence of a vacuum 
ceases under a water pressure of 32 feet. Accordingly, the 
idea has prevailed that depth of seal is an essential quality 
in anti-siphon traps, and nearly all such traps have been 
and are being constructed on this assumption. 

It has been clearly shown that this idea is fallacious, and 
that exactly the reverse is essential to meet all the require- 
ments of the problem. 

It does not follow that because a depth of seal of 32 feet 
is capable of resisting completely siphoning action, there 
is no other equally efficient manner of accomplishing the 
same result without the objections attending the perpendic- 
ular form. 

These objections are, first, the impossibility in practice 
of finding sufficient room under a fixture to give an unvented 
S trap the depth of seal required for adequate protection 
against the strongest siphonage encountered in plumbing 
practice. Four or five feet of such seal would be essential 
in an unvented S trap for entire safety. I have broken the 
seal of such a trap nearly six feet deep on different forms 
of apparatus. 

Secondly, the resistance to the outflow and consequently 
the lowering of the scouring effect of water through the 
use of so deep a trap, and, finally, the prohibitive cost of 
its manufacture and installment. 

Fortunatelv, there is another method of overcoming 
siphoning action besides that of opposing direct resistance 

286 



The Fallacy of Deep Water Seals for Traps. 

thereto, namely, the diametrically opposite one of reducing 
the resistance to a minimum. This is accomplished by 
forming the shallowest possible seal, but constructing the 
trap in such a manner that the seal shall simply move to 
one side for a moment and allow the air of siphonage to 
pass, and then return to its place. It is an application of 
the principle which gives success to the reed in competition 
with the oak. It bends to the storm and rises again when 
its fury has passed, while the oak is shattered by its oppo- 
sition. 

Nor does it follow, fortunately, that because a seal is 
very shallow it must on that account be a correspondingly 
weak one. As I have shown, a trap may be constructed in 
such a manner that the shallowest possible seal may have 
a strength so great as to be absolutely irresistible. A seal 
a quarter of an inch deep may be made in such a way as to 
withstand indefinitely the severest test of siphonage, back 
pressure, evaporation and all other adverse influences to be 
encountered in plumbing. It will withstand unvented a 
strain of siphonage powerful enough to destroy the seal 
of a fully vented S trap or of a drum trap of the largest 
diameter. 

In my various experiments on the behavior of different 
sizes and forms of drum traps when subjected to siphoning 
action, I have found their resistance to be in direct propor- 
tion to their diameter rather than to their depth of seal. 
Indeed, the latter has, within the narrow limits practicable 
in construction, no appreciable influence whatever. 



287 




CHAPTER XVI. 

Self-Siphonage and Momentum. 

SELF - SIPHONAGE takes place 
when the waste water flows through 
the trap "full bore" from the fixtures. 
As usually constructed, wash basins 
have outlets far too small in propor- 
tion to the size of the waste pipe and 
trap. The strainer cuts off a consid- 
erable portion of the passageway, 
and the hairs, lint and other sediment 
which soon invariably collect on the strainer cut off another 
large portion, leaving an outlet sometimes not more than 
equivalent to a y 2 -'mch or ^-inch pipe. The waste pipe and 
ordinary S trap are usually i^-inch or i*4- m ch in diameter, 
so that the stream of water admitted to flush and scour 
them is reduced to less than a quarter or a sixth of their 
capacity, and we wonder why our trap and waste pipes 
are never thoroughly scoured. An S trap is no more self- 
cleaning when the water stream admitted is less than a 
quarter or a sixth of its capacity than would be an ordinary 
pot trap having a stream of the same size relatively to 
itself passing through it. In other words, a i^-inch S trap 
attached to a ^-inch waste flowing "full bore," or to a 
waste having a y 2 -'mch inlet, is no more self-scouring than 
would be a 3-inch pot trap attached to a i-inch waste also 
flowing full bore, and therefore such an S trap becomes 
practically then a "cesspool" trap. 

This is a consideration of great importance, but one 
which appears generally to be lost sight of, and our plumb- 

288 



Self-Siphonage and Momentum. 

ing laws are defective in not recognizing it. It is one of 
the principal causes of the collection of sediment in branch 
wastes and ordinary S traps which have a false reputation 
of being universally self-scouring. They are evidently only 
so when properly set, and when the waste water from the 
fixture is permitted to flow through them rapidly and 
"full bore." It cannot pass rapidly "full bore" unless the 
outlet and strainer give an open waterway as great or 
greater than that of the waste pipe and trap. It should be 
greater in order to allow something for friction and sedi- 
ment. A trap having a very deep seal retards too much 
the rapidity and strength of the water current passing 
through it; hence it should be made as shallow as possible 
consistent with other requirements. 

Assuming, now, that we have properly set our trap in 
such a manner that a rapid stream of water passes through 
it full bore wherever the fixture is used in a legitimate 
manner, we shall find that, where an S trap is used, a 
siphon is formed by the outflowing waste water, which, 
without ventilation, breaks the seal of the trap. Hence the 
vent must be placed either at the crown or near enough to 
it to break the longer leg of the siphon. The momentum 
of the falling water assists the action of self-siphonage, 
and it is necessary for perfect protection against these two 
forces to vent very near the crown. 

To make a practical test of the truth of this I had a 
wash basin fitted up with an outlet large enough to fill a 
i ]/ 2 -inch waste pipe and S trap full bore. Through this 
outlet the basin was emptied in 2^4 seconds, and the seal 
of the trap was completely destroyed by the siphonage and 
momentum of the falling water. The trap was an ordinary 
cast lead trap, having the usual seal of ij4 inches, and 
was connected with a waste pipe of the same size with 
the bore of the trap. With a waste pipe very much larger 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

or smaller than the bore of the trap the seal is not so 
easily broken by self-siphonage, for obvious reasons. 

Sediment Collection in S Traps Converting Them 
Into Cesspools. 

In order to ascertain if the smallness of the outlet of a 
fixture could actually convert an S trap into a cesspool 
trap, as I have above asserted, and to study the effect of 
ventilation in removing deposits from cesspools, I have 
made a number of experiments on sediment collection and 
removal. I believe all unprejudiced and well-informed sani- 
tarians now admit that the special vent pipe is no longer 
to be recommended as a protection against siphonage, for 
the reasons I have mentioned. All admit, however, that 
the main stacks of soil pipe should be thoroughly vented 
at head and foot. The object of this is to dilute the 
gases of decomposition to such an extent as to render them 
as harmless as possible, and then to remove them from 
the premises. Liberal ventilation hastens somewhat the 
oxidation of the foul matters in the pipes, but not enough 
to form an active agent in removing solid impurities. 

There has been nevertheless a great deal of misunder- 
standing and idle theorizing on this subject among writers 
and practitioners in sanitary plumbing. There are advo- 
cates of indiscriminate venting who profess a preference 
for air pipes even to a thorough water scour, the most 
radical ones going so far as to affect for the latter com- 
parative indifference, saying, "If compelled to choose be- 
tween oxygen and suds, we should give the former prefer- 
ence every time."* 

Let us now, therefore, abandon theories and authorities 
and seek for facts to guide us in forming an independent 
judgment on this very important question. The only ques- 
tion, then, now in dispute is : Do traps and branch waste 



James C. Baylies in the "Sanitary Engineer." 

290 



Author's Experiments on Sediment Removal by Air 
Flushing. 

pipes require the application of special vent pipes to pre- 
vent an accumulation within them of solid deposits and 
corrosive gases? 

The first experiments were made on solid and the second 
on gaseous impurities. Under the first heading it was 
necessary to determine, first, if and to what extent the 
removal by oxidation of the refuse matters in our waste 
pipes goes on under a ventilating current under the vary- 
ing conditions possible in practice ; second, at what rate 
the accumulation of sediment or solid deposit goes on under 
the same circumstances ; third, to what extent a water 
scour is able to prevent and remove solid deposits without 
the aid of the special vent pipe ; and fourth, to what extent 
traps and branch waste pipes are self-ventilated without 
the aid of the special vent pipe in good plumbing practice. 

The first tests were made as follows : 

I had pipes evenly coated with deposits found in house- 
drain pipes and under the conditions met with in ordinary 
practice, and made, first, a series of extremely delicate and 
careful experiments to determine the value of air currents 
in pipes as a scouring agent. 

The maximum rate of this scouring or cleansing was 
first ascertained by performing the tests under all those 
conditions which are found to be most favorable to it. 
Thus the rate of oxidation is greatest when the ventilating 
current is most rapid, when the temperature is highest and 
when the largest surface is exposed to the current. 

The first experiments were, therefore, performed under 
these conditions. The waste pipes used were of the diameter 
of ordinary branch wastes, \ l / 2 inches, and were 6 inches 
long. They were connected with a heated flue by means 
of an ordinary i^-inch vent pipe in the manner usual in 
practice, so that the ventilating current should traverse 

291 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the pipes to be tested from end to end. The time of the 
year was in midwinter, in January and February. 

The pipes were uniformly smeared on the inside with 
substances found in house drains, using in some common 
soil from a soil pipe, and in others soap solutions found 
in lavatory wastes. The deposits were first thoroughly 
dried in the pipes in order to enable them to be accurately 
weighed in the laboratory, and they were afterwards mois- 
tened three times a day throughout the tests, about as they 
would be in ordinary practice. 

The weight of the deposit in the pipes containing soil 
was 3.652 grains. That of the lavatory waste was 3.1685 
grains. The deposits were then thoroughly moistened with 
clean water applied with a dropping tube and the pipes 
connected with the ventilating flue. The velocity of the 
air current passing through them was then accurately meas- 
ured and found to be very strong, averaging 8 feet a second, 
and this velocity was maintained throughout the whole 
series of tests by means of a stove connected with the 
main flue, into which the ventilating flue opened. This 
movement is evidently as rapid as would ever be met with 
in plumbing practice. The thermometer at the pipe during 
the tests averaged about 8o° F. 

Great care was taken throughout to insure that no foreign 
substance whatever should get into the pipes tested. No 
dusting or sweeping was allowed in the rooms and only 
pure water was used to moisten the deposits. An evapora- 
tion of the water used would show a weight of bacteria 
and other solid matter too small to be detected by our 
scales. In short, every precaution was taken to obtain 
reliable results. 

After an exposure of a week, under these conditions, to 
the air current, the pipes were again placed in the air bath 
for an hour, and the deposits in them thoroughly dried at 

292 



Author's Experiments on Sediment Removal by Air 
Flushing. 

a temperature of 230 F. Upon weighing, it was found 
that both deposits had gained in weight. The soil had 
gained 0.4955 grains and the soapy mixture 0.0130 grains. 

The tests were then repeated under the same conditions 
for a second week. This time the gain of the soil was re- 
duced to 0.4775, and the weight of the lavatory waste was 
increased to 0.0315 grains. 

The bacteria of decomposition and nitrification had evi- 
dently not put in their most effective work, and it is prob- 
able that the conditions as to light and moisture were not 
favorable for it. So far the air passed through the pipes 
was pure air from the room. In the next experiments the 
ordinary air from the house soil pipe was used and its 
velocity was 7 feet per second. At the end of a week the 
soil had lost 0.0575 grains and the lavatory matter 0.0352 
grains, which was equivalent in the first case to i~70th of 
the entire weight of the deposit and in the second to i-iooth 
part. Either of these amounts dissolved in water and spread 
uniformly over the surface of clean pipes of the size of 
those used was found to be altogether imperceptible to the 
eye, and the complete purification of these pipes by ventila- 
tion under the most favorable circumstances would at this 
rate require from 70 to 100 weeks, or from i l / 2 to 2 years, 
supposing there were no addition made to the deposit during 
the interval through use of the fixture. 

We then made the tests with the deposits kept dry as 
might be the case in pipes under fixtures temporarily in 
disuse, with approximately the same results, and from all 
the experiments we reached the conclusion that the solid 
deposits in the interior of soil and drain pipes are removed 
so slowly by the oxidation produced by ventilation as to be 
practically valueless. 

The second point investigated, namely, the rate of accu- 

293 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

mulation in pipes of deposits in ordinary plumbing, re- 
quired no special experiments. We have ample data in 
our everyday experience in plumbing. Considering, first, 
the worst conditions, namely, those of the cold waste pipe 
from the ordinary kitchen or pantry sink, we know that 
the accumulation of grease in these will be so rapid as to 
entirely clog up the pipes in a short time where special 
precautions are not taken to flush out the pipes from time 
to time with hot water or some solution of caustic alkali, 
or where sinks constructed on the principle of an automatic 
flush tank to be hereafter described,are used. So far as 
the ventilating current is concerned, however, its well 
known and generally admitted tendency is to congeal the 
grease and increase the clogging rather than to diminish it. 

Consider next the case of an ordinary soil pipe. We find 
that the tenacious soil will adhere stubbornly to the pipe in 
masses where it strikes until it is washed away by a power- 
ful fall of water, and that it is not equally distributed in a 
thin film all over the surface. Parts will be found which 
are never touched by the waste matter, and parts which are 
alternately fouled and then scoured clean again. Generally 
large masses of deposits will be formed in the cavities of 
the joints or in holes in the castings. In short, the deposits 
in soil pipes are not slowly distributed favorably for oxida- 
tion, but are formed in lumps suddenly, and are either as 
suddenly removed by the flushing water or are deposited in 
cavities which largely screen them from the influence of 
the ventilating current, and therefore in this case also the 
influence of aeration in removing the solid matter is com- 
paratively very slight. The accumulations of heavy matter 
will continue in time to increase until they leave an opening 
only large enough to allow room for the ordinary water 
flushing stream to pass. 

Take next the waste pipe from a lavatory. We find the 

294 



Author's Experiments on Air Flushing. 

solid deposits here of two kinds, one collecting in clots or 
masses in corners or unscoured areas, as lumps of soap, 
hairs, lint, etc., and the other coating the pipes in thin films 
as of soap-suds. The former are deposited suddenly, and 
are either swept away by the water or caught in the un- 
scoured cavities and remain there, partially screened from 
the air current, until other similar substances accumulate 
above them. The ventilating current, therefore, can have 
no appreciable effect in removing these masses of matter. 

Where, on the other hand, the traps and waste pipes are 
so constructed and flushed that no such masses can collect, 
the only kind of deposit that can form in the interval be- 
tween the flushing will be of the second kind, namely, a 
thin film of matter like soap-suds, and this the next dis- 
charge will remove. 

It remains to be seen what effect a powerful water flush- 
ing has on these deposits, and this brings us to our third 
consideration. 



295 



CHAPTER XVII. 
Water Flushing. 







Pt/xfoUd. 



Fig. 275. Experiments 
on Water Flushing. 



N order to obtain a direct comparison 
of the relative value of a thorough 
water and of the greatest possible air 
flushing, the same pipes, tested as 
already described under the air cur- 
rent, and containing identically the 
same deposits, were next tested un- 
der a good water flush. They were 
attached to a properly constructed 
lavatory, as shown in Fig. 275, and 
cold water was discharged through 
them in the usual manner. Although 
the deposits were dry and hard, they were almost entirely 
washed away after ten discharges. After fifteen discharges 
the amount of deposit left on both pipes was less than half 
a grain. When the substances were soft on the application 
of the test they were removed at once and entirely by a 
single discharge. 

From these investigations we have found that the water 
flushing was infinitely more rapid and thorough in its 
cleansing power than the air flush. Now there is nothing 
to prevent every lavatory from being so constructed as to 
properly flush the waste pipes at each discharge. In fact, 
there are a great many reasons why it should be looked 
upon as an absolute necessity in good plumbing. 

Hence special trap and branch waste vent piping is, for 
the purpose of removing solid deposits, not only inefficient, 
but also entirely unnecessary. 

We come now to the fourth consideration: 



296 



Water Flushing. 

Self- Ventilation of Traps and Branch Waste Pipes. 

But supposing it had been shown that special trap ventila- 
tion were necessary instead of the reverse, it would still 
be superfluous to apply the special vent pipe, because the 
ventilation in proper plumbing is thoroughly accomplished 
without it, and in several ways. 

If our main stacks of pipes are open above and below, 
as they should be, and thus thoroughly aired, the branch 
wastes will be ventilated in the first place by the well 
known law of the diffusion of gases. 

In the second place, a movement of fluids up or down 
the main stack creates in the branches suction strong 
enough sometimes even to destroy the seal of ordinary traps. 
This suction, be it strong or feeble, always produces an 
interchange of air in the branches. 

Finally, a third and still more important way in which 
natural aeration is produced is by the usage of the fixture 
itself. Every time the water is discharged a column of 
pure air is drawn from the room into the waste pipe after 
the water column. Everyone has observed how the air 
follows the water, and is drawn through it in the form of 
an inverted cone or funnel, generally with a loud sucking 
noise. When the fixture is properly constructed, with an 
outlet large enough to fill the waste pipe "full bore," a 
column of air equal to the size of the water column is 
drawn after it, completely filling the waste pipe with pure 
air from the room. In short, ample air follows every dis- 
charge to accomplish all that the soil pipe air of the trap 
vent could do in the interval between the usages of the 
fixture. The pure air from the room could not possibly be 
rendered so foul in the interval as the soil pipe air would 
be, as they are constructed to-day, before it entered. This 
is equally true whether the fixture be used often or seldom, 

297 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

provided it be properly constructed and set, and whether 
the branch waste be long or short. 

Thus the special trap vent is superfluous for scouring, 
not only because the traps may be fully vented without it, 
but also because a good water flushing accomplishes all 
and infinitely more than the air could do. 

Removal of Gaseous Impurities. 

The chief difference between the main soil pipe and the 
small branch wastes in relation to venting is that the foul 
air in the former cannot, and in the latter case can, in good 
plumbing, be thoroughly changed by flushing and diffusion. 
Hence, in the main wastes, special venting is necessary to 
remove gaseous impurities and in the small branch wastes 
it is not. What has already been said in regard to the 
capacity for the removal of solid impurities from the smaller 
waste pipes of a good water flush holds with still greater 
force in relation to gaseous impurity. The lighter gases 
are instantly removed by the water stream and replaced 
by pure air from the room, and this substitution is as much 
more desirable than the substitution of soil pipe air as the 
former is richer in oxygen and freer from injurious ele- 
ments than the latter. 

Back Pressure. 

"Back pressure" in plumbing is a force acting in a direc- 
tion precisely opposite to that of siphonage. It indicates 
that the air in the drains is under compression, where with 
siphonage it is under rarification. Hence it tends to force 
the water of traps from the drains outwards into the house 
where siphonage tends to force it inwards from the house 
into the drains. This compression of air in the drains 
may be caused either by the movement of fluids in the 
house pipes themselves or by external influences acting 

298 



Author's Experiments on Back Pressure. 

upon the air of the sewers, such as the pressure of wind 
and tide at the sewer openings or a change in the tem- 
perature or volume of sewage within the pipes. With 
properly ventilated soil pipes the expansion or contraction 
of the air or wind or other pressure in the sewers can have 
no influence on the seals of interior fixture traps, but where 
an intercepting house trap is used, it is clear that a sewer 
vent must also be furnished at the trap to protect it from 
such influences. 

The influences which act within the house pipes to create 
back pressure are : First, the compression of the air in 
the main soil pipe by waste water passing through it ; second, 
the pressure of the wind ; and third, the suction of open 
fires and ventilating outlets throughout the house. 

If a large body of water is thrown suddenly into the 
soil pipes from one of the upper fixtures in a house, it 
drives the air in advance of it as it falls like a plug through 
the pipe. Were there no resistance to the passage of the 
air, such as is caused by friction, or a sudden bend in the 
pipe, the air would pass through a properly ventilated pipe 
in front of the water without compression, but the rough 
interior of the soil and waste pipes, and sudden bends in 
their course, causes considerable resistance to the escape 
of the air in advance of the water, causing condensation 
of the air, and giving rise to the phenomenon we are dis- 
cussing, and this "back pressure" is sometimes strong 
enough to drive the water out of the traps in a sudden jet 
or fountain. I have completely emptied a 4-inch pot trap, 
having a seal four inches deep, by this action, even though 
the soil pipe was properly vented at both top and bottom. 
Fortunately, however, a very simple remedy exists for back 
pressure. This force never exceeds a few ounces to the 
square inch in properly arranged plumbing, and may easily 
be resisted by a column of water from 12 to 18 inches in 

299 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

height. Hence a trap which would be completely emptied 
when standing alone, as shown in Fig. 252, 276 or 278, will 
easily resist the pressure when attached to and placed some 
little distance below a fixture or when the inlet arm is 
simply lengthened as shown in Fig. 277. With a common S 
trap the resistance to back pressure in this figure is twice 
as great as in the first. The limit of resistance of an S trap 
is the weight of a column of water twice as high as the 




Fig. 276. Effect of Back 
Pressure. 





Fig. 278. Effect of Back 
Pressure. 



Fig-. 277. Back Pressure resisted by posi- 
sition of the Trap below the Fixture. 

depth of its seal. But though the soil pipe air may be blown 
through the trap when it surpasses the limit of resistance of 
the seal, yet the fixture above the trap will catch the water 
thrown up and restore it to the trap. 

With a pot trap, however, the power of resistance is 
much greater, since it contains water enough to rise under 
the influence of back pressure to a very considerable height 
in an inlet pipe. Now, so far as my experiments have 
shown, the severest back pressure that can possibly be 
brought to bear upon a water trap in a properly plumbed 



300 



Water Flushing. 

building having ventilated soil and drain pipes can be re- 
sisted by a column of water from 14 to 16 inches high. 
Hence, if. a trap in such a building is placed under a fix- 
ture in such a manner that the bottom of its seal shall 
stand from 14 to 16 inches below the outlet of the fixture it 
serves, it may be considered perfectly safe against loss of 
seal or soil pipe air transmission by back pressure. For it 
will be found that if the column of water in a trap is high 
enough to resist this back pressure, it will entirely exclude 
the entrance of sewer gas or soil pipe air so compressed 
in the pipes. In other words, the air will not, under such 
circumstances, ever be driven through the water column 
in bubbles, as is sometimes feared. Hence in setting traps 
under kitchen sinks where back pressure from water fall- 
ing from fixtures above is to be feared, the traps should 
always be placed low enough below the outlet of the sink 
to permit of the formation of a water column high enough 
to resist the back pressure. Otherwise the water may be 
blown out of the trap into the sink, and sewer air will fol- 
low. If such action follows every time any fixture above 
is discharged, the constant repetition of such injection of 
sewer air into the room may result in serious consequences. 

Now, the main house trap is a frequent cause of heavy 
back pressure in the basement of a house owing to the 
friction caused by the resistance of its seal, and this fur- 
nishes another argument in favor of its abandonment. 

In the experiments in back pressure made in my inves- 
tigations for the Board of Health, the traps were tested 
on the basement floor (see Fig. 242) just above the hori- 
zontal run of the soil pipe. The tests were divided into 
(A) those in which the traps had no vertical extension 
of the inlet arm, and (B) those in which the inlet arms 
were extended. 

An S trap having the ordinary 6-inch length of inlet arm 

301 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

above the seal was first tested. The first discharge of the 
water closet alone threw the water out of the trap, pro- 
jecting it several feet in the air, and .broke the seal. The 
experiment was often repeated with the same rsult. Fig. 
278. 

(A) A 4-inch pot trap lost its seal in four discharges 
(see Fig. 276). The top of the inlet arm stood 2 inches 
above the top of the seal. 

An 8-inch pot lost 2 inches of its seal in seven discharges. 
The top of the inlet pipe stood 3 inches above the top of 
the seal. 

The same trap lost 3^4 inches by fourteen discharges of 
the water closet and bath tub together. 

(B) With a vertical extension (Fig. 2jy) 01 16 inches, 
a 13/2-inch cast lead S trap retained its seal entirely whether 
tested with the discharge of the water closet alone or with 
water closet and bath tub together; but in all cases air 
was forcibly driven through the water forced up into the 
inlet pipe, because the volume of water in the trap was 
insufficient to outweigh the back pressure. 

An S trap having 5 inches of seal without extension 
lost its seal in all cases, but with an extension of 16 inches 
the water was not thrown out under die severest dis- 
charges. With this trap, moreover, the large volume of 
water was with the extension sufficient to overbalance the 
pressure of the air, and no bubbles were driven through 
the trap. The same deep seal S trap was then tested after 
half its seal had been removed as by evaporation or other 
accident. In this case the trap acted exactly as did the 
ordinary shallow-sealed, ordinary cast lead S trap, and al- 
ways allowed air to be driven through it. 

A 4-inch pot trap with the 16-inch extension neither lost 
any of its water nor allowed any air to escape through its 
seal under any of the severest conditions. 

302 



Back Pressure. 

The same trap with a 6-inch extension, bringing the top 
of the extension 8 inches above top of seal, lost its entire 
seal in two discharges of the water closet and bath tub 
together. The volume of the water in the trap was suffi- 
cient, but the pipe was not long enough to allow of the 
formation of a column sufficiently high to resist the air 
pressure. 

An 8-inch pot trap with either a g, 12 or a 16-inch ex- 
tension lost no water and allowed no air to pass under 
either of the tests. But with a 6-inch extension the water 
was driven out of the trap. 

A piece of 1 ^2-inch waste pipe, 12 inches long, holds 
about 24 of a pint of water. A 15-inch piece holds a pint. 
Hence a trap used with such a waste pipe should have a 
capacity of not less than ^4 pint. 

In our apparatus erected for this course we shall be 
able to illustrate "back pressure" in every degree of force, 
from an amount scarcely measurable up to that which will 
throw the entire contents of our tank upon the lecture 
floor, according as the valve just below the trap testing 
branch be left open or completely closed. 



303 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
Evaporation. 




1X7 1 T H unventi 



lated traps 
evaporation of 
their seal goes 
on with ex- 
treme slowness, 
and with such 
traps contain- 
ing a consider- 
able body of 
water, no dan- 
ger from this 
cause need be 
anticipated un- 
less the build- 
ing be left un- 
occupied and 
unwatched for 
years at a time. 
If the trap is adequately ventilated, however, its seal 
will be gradually lowered, and if the ventilating flue con- 
nects with the trap at or near the crown, the induced air 
current licks up the water with a speed proportional to 
the efficiency with which it performs its duty as a venti- 
lator, and will destroy the seal of an ordinary small S trap 
in from four days to one or more weeks, according to the 
rapidity and dryness of the current. If the flue connects 
with the trap at any point below its seal it is powerless to 
prevent self-siphonage. 

304 



Fig. 279. Diagram illustrating the Air Movements 

above the Water Seal of a Back Vented S-Trap, 

and of a non-vented Antisyphon Trap. The 

former quickly losing and the latter 

retaining its seal. 



Evaporation. 

Some years ago, after the enactment of the trap vent 
law, the Brooklyn newspapers published, in the interest 
of the public, the following warning, showing that the of- 
ficers of the Public Health Department had already ex- 
perienced some of the evils of the trap vent law : "The 
Commissioner of Health desires to direct the attention of 
householders to the danger of occupying houses which 
have been for any considerable time without occupants. 
It is the practice of many persons to leave their dwellings 
for several months in the summer, during which time the 
water in the traps of basins and other fixtures is liable to 
evaporate, and thus permit the unobstructed entrance of 
sewer gas into the dwellings. When the families return 
in the fall they are exposed to these sewer emanations, and 
it is believed that cases of serious, if not, indeed, fatal 
sickness have been due to this cause. Whenever houses 
are so left, provision should be made to have the traps 
filled at least every two weeks by a competent and trust- 
worthy plumber, and if possible to have all the windows 
of the house opened for twenty-four hours before its re- 
occupation." This notice was given the public after the 
city had fastened upon them the trap vent law. They then 
felt constrained to advise every house owner, under peril 
of serious danger to health, to employ some honest and 
skilful expert to stand constantly on the alert to undo the 
danger done by this law. We will not calculate here the 
number of traps owned by the several million inhabitants 
of Greater New York, nor the exact size of the army of 
trustworthy plumbers which would be required to overhaul 
dwellings for the purpose of attending to apparatus in- 
tended to be made by the new law automatic. But were 
all the traps ventilated in accordance with this law, it is 
certain that their fortnightly refilling and the opening of 
all the house windows in consequence of their not having 

305 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

been refilled weekly would consume infinitely more time 
than would be required to clean out the same number of 
unventilated pot traps, if their use was the only alternative, 
as often as their condition required, and, as a collector 
of greasy sediment, the vent pipe is no better than an 
elongated cesspool trap itself. Had the Commissioner of 
Health published advice to the householders to employ some 
competent and trustworthy plumber to cork up or tear out 
once and for all from their houses all these incompetent 
and untrustworthy back vent pipes which were responsible 
for the trap seal evaporation, instead of raiding the prem- 
ises every fortnight to try to repair in a measure the mis- 
chief they had done, he would have performed a really 
valuable service to the alarmed and unhappy absentees on 
their summer vacations, and have reassured the much-suf- 
fering public at large at the same time. 

Sometimes an owner is advised to fill all the traps with 
oil as security against evaporation. This method is trouble- 
some and expensive, and should the house owner or any of 
his friends or employes happen to require to visit the prem- 
ises during the season of its inoccupancy, he would be 
obliged to obtain or carry with him on each occasion a gal- 
lon or so of oil and refill the traps of any fixtures used 
during such a visit. Inasmuch as such phenomenal fore- 
sight could hardly be expected, especially in cases of un- 
expected or unforeseen visits, the practical objections to 
this method are sufficiently obvious, though it often sounds 
well to propose it. 

While it is evident that back venting must gradually de- 
stroy the seal it was commissioned to protect, it is also 
evident, as an examination of our Figure 279 will make 
clear, that a pot trap or an anti-siphon of good water 
capacity is capable of preserving its seal against loss 

306 



Evaporation. 

by evaporation during an entire winter or summer season 
if un vented. 

If vented, a current of air is constantly in motion over 
the seal when the vent pipe is actually performing the office 
for which it is installed, and it carries off vapor from the 
seal as fast as it rises. 

One may easily test this by filling a large pot trap having 
arms long enough to reach to the floor and to a basin and 
placing it by the side of a cup of water as shown in Fig. 
279. In my experiments for the City Board of Health 
the evaporation is shown to be very rapid from the sewer 
side of a vented trap and almost nothing from the house 
side of the same trap. 

Experiments for the Board of Health on Evaporation 
Produced by Back Venting. 
These experiments were made on the basement floor. 
They were subdivided into (A) those in which the vent 
pipe was conducted into a cold flue, and (B) those in 
which it was conducted into a heated flue. 

(A) Tests with a Cold Ventilating Flue. 
A 1 % -inch S trap having a seal 4^$ inches deep was 
attached to the end of the branch waste in the manner 
shown in Fig. 242, A i^-inch rubber ventilatng pipe was 
taken from the 1 54 -inch ventilating opening at the crown 
of the trap and conducted into a cold 4-inch galvanized iron 
ventilating flue, shown in the drawing. This flue passed 
through two occupied offices (basement and first floor) 
whose temperature was maintained at about 68 degrees F. 
during the term of the experiments, and through a chemical 
laboratory (second floor) whose temperature was main- 
tained at about 60 degrees F. For the remainder of its 
height the flue passed through a cellar and stairways whose 
temperature was maintained at about 45 degrees F. No 

307 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



artificial heat was applied to the flue. The velocity of the 
movement of the current of air in the flue was measured 
by the anemometer. The daily rate of loss of seal by evap- 
oration and the velocity of the current in feet per minute 
is shown in Fig. 281. 

We see that the loss averages about an eighth of an 










7.m_ 

% _ 

9 —I 

^/ 

u 

S3 
IS 



/6 

/7 

79 
20 

2/ 
22 



23 



24 — 



26 _ 

2? 

2? 

30 

3*' 



\A$/ 



2 



#* 



f6 
*7 

J? 
2d 



M^4 



Fig. 281. Record of Evaporation Fi S- 2S2. Record of Evaporation 
with Cold Flues. with Heated Flues. 

inch per diem. It amounts to about a quarter of an inch 
the first day, and gradually diminishes as the level of the 
water descends in the trap, and the distance of its surface 
from the ventilating current increases, to a little less than 
Y% inch per diem. Hence an ordinary S trap having a 
13/2-inch or a 1 ^4-inch seal might lose its seal in from nine 
to eleven days under similar conditions. 

The experiment was repeated several times at different 

308 



Evaporation. 

parts of the year from the middle of December to the 
middle of May, with substantially the same results. 

The same trap was now tested at the middle opening, 
whose center was 2 inches below the crown. The rate 
of evaporation was somewhat slower, as shown. This ex- 
periment was carried on only n days, inasmuch as by this 
time i l / 2 inches of the seal had been destroyed, and the 
seal of many ordinary S traps does not exceed i^ inches 
or 1 24 inches. The same trap was now ventilated at the 
lowest point, i. e., 6 inches below the crown. The evapora- 
tion in this case was exceedingly slow, and after the first 
two or three days was almost inappreciable. 

A number of experiments were then made on S traps 
unventilated, but open at both ends, as is the case in prac- 
tice. The loss of water was almost inappreciable, not ex- 
ceeding i -32nd or i-i6th of an inch in ten days. 

(B) Experiments on Evaporation Produced by a Heated 
Ventilating Flue. 

A i^-inch trap having a seal 3%. inches deep was tested. 
A i^-inch wrought iron gas pipe 6 inches long connected 
with the crown, of the trap with a brick flue 8x12 inches 
heated by a stove. (See Fig. 282.) 

The diagrams shown in Fig. 282 represent five tests, two 
made in March, one in October, and two in November. 
Here again the perpendicular lines represent the depth of 
the seal of the trap. The upper arc represents conven- 
tionally the outlet mouth and the lower arc the inlet mouth 
of the trap. The horizontal lines show the position of the 
water level in the trap at the same hour in the morning of 
each day recorded in figures on the diagram. We see here 
a very rapid diminution of the seal. The average loss per 
diem exceeded 1/3 of an inch. The smallest loss is % inch, 

309 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

and the largest nearly y% inch. The fixture side of the 
trap was closed during the tests. 

A second series of experiments was made with an ordi- 
nary i^-inch cast lead trap having a seal \]/ 2 inches deep. 
The trap was connected with the heated flue at a point 3 
inches below the crown. Four tests were made. The loss 
of seal was much slower than in the former tests because 
of the distance of the mouth of the vent pipe from the 
top of the water. The rate of evaporation, however, in 
these four tests averaged one-seventh of an inch a day, the 
greatest loss in any one day being % inch. In all these 
experiments on evaporation it was found to make no ma- 
terial difference in the results whether the fixture end of 
the trap was open or closed, showing that the evaporation 
at this point was inappreciable. 

In the experiments on evaporation with the cold ventilat- 
ing flue, in the first experiment with the vent at the crown, 
the anemometer recorded an average rate of movement 
of the ventilating current of 94 feet per minute. 

In the second test, with vent at the crown, the average 
was 85 feet per minute ; with the vent 2 inches from the 
crown the average was 109 feet per minute. The velocity 
of the current during the cold months of the year was 
quite uniform. In the summer months, however, it was 
exceedingly variable, sometimes equaling that of the cold 
season and sometimes ceasing altogether, or retrograding. 
In the cold months the relation between the rapidity of 
evaporation and the velocity and dampness of the air cur- 
rent was not accurately determined, the rate of evaporation 
being quite uniform in spite of considerable barometric 
fluctuation and change of velocity. 

But in summer a change of the conditions of the atmos- 
phere produced a very marked change in the rate of evapo- 
ration. On a few occasions of damp or rainy weather in 

310 



Evaporation. 

the summer months, where the cold brick flue was used 
without a ventilating cap on top, the seal actually gained 
slightly in depth from condensation on the cold flue of the 
damp air of the soil pipe, or from an actual descent of 
moisture down the chimney. These accretions, however, 
were very rare, not occurring more than three times in 
the whole duration of the experiments. 

The scientific investigation of this branch of the subject 
would require more elaborate apparatus and much more 
time than was at our disposal ; yet what records we made 
were made with great care and accuracy. 

From these experiments we found ( I ) that a rapid 
evaporation of the water seal of traps takes place when 
they are ventilated at or near the crown, and that the evapo- 
ration goes on both in winter and in summer, and in ordi- 
nary unheated flues as well as in flues artificially heated. 
The evaporation is most rapid in winter or with flues arti- 
ficially heated, and slowest in summer, especially in damp 
weather. Hence it may be stated generally that the rapid- 
ity of evaporation depends upon the velocity, temperature 
and hygrometric condition of the atmosphere. (2) That 
in winter the evaporation produced by ventilation is so 
rapid as to destroy the seal of an ordinary i^-inch ma- 
chine-made S trap in from four to eleven days, according 
to the nature of the current. 

(3) That without ventilation, or with the ventilating flue 
taken from a considerable distance below the crown, the 
evaporation of the water seal of traps is exceedingly slow, 
and that unventilated traps having a considerable water 
capacity may be considered perfectly secure against this 
danger unless they are unused for years at a time. 

It would obviously be impossible to devise a form of 
apparatus for experimental purposes which should cover 
all the varying conditions liable to be met with in plumb- 

311 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

ing practice. The position of the trap on the soil pipe 
branch, the manner and position of connection of the 
branch with the main pipe, the amount of usage the pipes 
sustained, the manner in which the ventilating flues were 
constructed, would all produce their effects upon the re- 
sults. Nevertheless, in every case where the ventilating 
flue performed the office of producing a movement of the 
air within the pipes for which it was intended, and this air 
was not absolutely saturated with moisture, an event very 
rare in well ventilated sewers and house drains, the evapo- 
ration must of necessity go on in the manner recorded as 
the result of these experiments. 

How far the variation of the conditions would affect the 
rapidity of the loss of seal must be left to other investiga- 
tors to determine, and it is hoped that the National Board 
of Health will x at some early day take up this whole matter, 
and by a most thorough and judicial series of exhaustive 
experiments put a final end to all doubt and discussion on 
the part of the public in this extremely important depart- 
ment of sanitary building. 

The apparatus used in our tests for the Boston Board of 
Health was fitted up exactly as is customary to fit up 
plumbing for actual use. 

The entire length of the soil pipe was kept much of the 
time wet during the experiments on evaporation, by dis- 
charges through it made for the tests on siphonage and 
back pressure, precaution being of course taken by having 
the inlet end of the trap always corked up so as to be 
secure against loss of seal through these agencies. The 
inlet at the end of the soil pipe system, where the fresh 
air was taken in to produce the ventilating current above 
the trap, was distant as much as 60 or 70 feet from the 
traps tested, so that the air was obliged to traverse a con- 
siderable length of damp soil pipe, the greater part being 

313 



Evaporation. 

nearly horizontal, on its way to the trap, and it may there- 
fore be assumed it was conducted over as large an area of 
moist surface as it would ordinarily encounter in practice. 

Moreover, the results of our experiments in this direction 
correspond with the experience of many sanitary engineers, 
health inspectors and plumbers who have had occasion, 
since the enactment of the plumbing laws in various parts 
of the country, to observe the effect of the provision re- 
quiring branch ventilation on the water seal of traps. 

General Conclusions from the Experiments on 
Siphonage, Back Pressure and Evaporation. 

From these tests I conclude as follows : 

(i) The ordinary form of machine-made small S trap 
with shallow seal and without special ventilation is in- 
capable of resisting the action of siphonage or back pres- 
sure, even in a very mild form. 

(2) A small S trap even when made of unusually deep 
seal is incapable without special ventilation of resisting 
the action of siphonage or back pressure in a mild form. 

(3) Small S traps when ventilated at the crown, with 
vent pipes having a diameter the full size of the bore of 
the trap, and of no unusual or excessive length, are in- 
capable of resisting the severe action of siphonage pro- 
duced by the simultaneous discharge of any powerful 
flushing water closets and ordinary bath tubs under ordi- 
nary conditions likely to be encountered in practice. Water 
closets producing a powerful flushing of the soil pipes when 
discharged should not be prohibited on account of their 
siphoning power, because the periodical flushing of the 
soil pipes by their use is productive of great good, and 
their siphoning action may be counteracted by other means. 

(4) Special trap ventilation when the vent pipe is ap- 

313 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

plied at or near the crown of the trap induces a current 
of air over the water which rapidly destroys the seal. 

(5) Trap ventilation when the vent pipe is applied at 
a point so far below the crown as to avoid the danger of 
evaporation leaves the trap open to the danger of self- 
siphonage, as well as of severe siphoning action. The posi- 
tion of the vent pipe on the trap does not (at least within 
the limits covered by our experiments) materially affect 
the action of siphonage. 

(6) Pot traps of the ordinary sizes are incapable, without 
special trap ventilation, of resisting the severest action of 
siphonage liable to be encountered in plumbing. 

(7) Pot traps of the largest size are open to the objec- 
tions attending all cesspools, and should never be allowed. 

(8) Anti-siphon traps, may be constructed in such a 
manner as to resist permanently, wthout back venting, all 
the adverse forces to be encountered in plumbing. 



314 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Capillary Action. 




Fig. 283. Capillary 

Action Forming 

Short Siphon. 



ESIDES the well known enemies of the 
water seal of traps already described, an- 
other exists which is, however, more in- 
sidious and no less fatal in its action. It 
works like the vampire, silently and 
stealthily, drawing the life from the trap 
without warning of any kind, and often 
leaves open the gates of the sewers with- 
out detection. Where the trap is con- 
structed entirely of opaque material the absence of the water 
seal cannot be seen, and where glass is used it soon becomes 
coated with an opaque film, so that the source of the leakage 
of sewer air into the house cannot be seen and, as capillary 
action is unsuspected, the presence of sewer air is attributed 
to some other cause. 

Capillary action is the subtle thief which does this mis- 
chief. Hairs, lint, bits of twine, paper, sponge or matted 
fibrous filth of a great variety of kinds are the tools with 
which it operates. A small quantity of any of these sub- 
stances, forming a continuous mass or chain from the water 
in the trap to and over into the outflow, will, under certain 
conditions, soak up and slowly drain off the water from the 
trap until the seal is destroyed. Let us examine the con- 
ditions favorable to this action and ascertain by what means, 
if any, it may be prevented. 

In books on the subject of capillarity we find the theory 
explained with scientific accuracy. The precise amount of 



3 1 5 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

elevation of liquids in tubes of very fine bore, nominally 
of the diameter of a hair (capilla), is calculated in these 
treatises to a nicety, and we are in some of them referred 
for complete satisfaction and elucidation particularly to 
the gigantic work of La Place on ''Celestial Mechanics" 
(tenth book, supplement). Knowing from the study of this 
interesting work that the tension of the surface of contact 
of two liquids or bodies is represented by the equation 

T V2 =/ E (*> ~ **) A +/**(** ~ *)//*, 

what more need the practical plumber have to cause the 
whole subject of the capillary effect of sediment in traps 
and the best methods of dealing with it to burst upon his 
delighted understanding in a flood of light? All he requires 
is a knowledge of the higher mathematics and some skill 
and ingenuity in arranging his data for calculation. He 
knows from the treatises that the finer the bore of the tube 
the higher the liquid will rise in it, provided the surfaces 
are of a kind the liquid can wet ; that plane surfaces which 
can be wetted by a liquid will exert a similar attraction on 
liquids, provided they are put near enough together, not 
exceeding i-io of an inch apart, and that the attractive 
power is in proportion to the proximity of the surfaces 
and independent of the thickness of the bodies underlying 
them. But he will not find in the treatises what the exact 
efTect will be on liquids of the interposition of numerous 
plane and rounded surfaces such as are presented by the 
sediment found in traps, under the peculiar conditions of 
surroundings, temperature and moisture met with in 
plumbing. Inasmuch as these peculiar conditions would 
render his calculations somewhat more complicated and 
difficult, and as the books have not investigated the subject 

316 



Capillary Action. 

sufficiently, a study of this particular branch of the subject 
from a practical rather than a theoretical standpoint seems 
needed. 

What is the capillary effect of large and small quantities 
of the sediment found in traps, and how can the loss of 
water by this agency be prevented? 

It is evident, first, that the substances exerting the 
capillary action can conduct the water only to a certain 
limited distance above and beyond its surface, and that the 
rapidity of the removal of the water in a closed vessel will 
be in proportion to the shortness of the distance required 
to be raised ; second, that capillary action in an open vessel 
greatly. increases the loss by evaporation, and that the rapid- 
ity of the removal of the water in vessels of similar form 
but exposed to different degrees of change of air will be 
in proportion to the velocity and hygrometric condition of 
the air currents. Hence, if we use a trap having a seal of 
proper form, and do not allow the air above the trap to 
be changed in such a manner as to cause evaporation, aggra- 
vated by the spreading out of the water through capillary 
action, the trap will be secure against loss of seal through 
this agency. 

To ascertain the distance which water will travel above 
the seal of a trap under the influence of capillary action, 
a number of experiments were made with various materials, 
such as are liable to collect in traps in practical use, includ- 
ing among them those which are found to have the maxi- 
mum of effect in conducting the water by capillary action. 
The experiments were made both in ordinary open glasses 
and in different kinds of traps, both open and closed. 

The first tests were to ascertain the perpendicular dis- 
tance. Figs. 283 to 286 show the manner in which I made 
the tests with ordinary goblets. A number of these glasses 
were supported on blocks and filled with water. Over 

317 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

their edges were hung the different substances to be tested, 
one end extending below the bottom of the water in the 
goblet, and the other to the top of a tumbler placed below 
it, as shown in the figures, to receive the water drawn from 





Fig. 284. Capillary Action 
Forming Longer Siphon. 



Fig. 286. Capillary Action 
with Horizontal Extension. 




Fig. 285. Capillary Action with Long Siphon. 

the goblets. The substances tested were matted hair-felt, 
lamp-wicking, both with and without its covering; jute; 
hemp-cord, unraveled and separated into fine fibres ; hemp- 
cord in its natural braid, and pieces of string. Of all the 



318 



Capillary Action. 

substances tested, jute, such as is used by plumbers in 
caulking joints, proved to be the most effective in removing 
the water by capillary action, and this is the substance 1 
shall use in our tests to-night. Different amounts of each 
substance were used in making the experiments. In each 
case experiments were made both with a small quantity 
of each material and with a mass large enough to complete- 
ly fill the waste pipe. As might be expected, the water 
was most quickly removed when the quantity of the sub- 
stance tested was large enough to completely fill the pipe. 
These experiments showed the limit of the carrying power 
in an upward direction with these materials under capil- 
lary action to be 4^ inches. The water was rarely lifted 
more than 3 inches or 3^4 inches. The majority of the wa- 
ter carried into the lower glass was moved during the first 
ten or twelve minutes, the rapidity of the action grad- 
ually decreasing as the water descended, becoming extreme- 
ly slow when the level was reduced about 2 inches, and 
generally ceasing altogether and the fibres becoming entirely 
dry at the top when the water in the upper vessel was 
reduced about 3^2 or 4 inches. 

In emptying a vessel of water by means of a bent tube 
forming a siphon, the excess of length of the outer over 
the inner limb of the siphon governs, as I have shown, the 
rapidity of the flow. With capillary action, how r ever, 
though the outer limb must always be longer than the 
inner, yet beyond a certain fixed point the excess appears 
to have no marked influence. A small predominance of 
the outer limb, as shown in Figure 283, or just enough to 
overbalance the column of water in the inner limb, carries 
off the water as rapidly as the long limb shown in Fig- 
ure 285. 

The results of the experiments with ordinary open ves- 
sels were as follows : 

319 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

(a) Hair- felt. This is a material which closely resem- 
bles the matted deposit of short hairs which form so large 
a proportion of the deposit in traps and waste pipes. Strips 
of this felt one-quarter of an inch thick and of various 
widths and lengths were tested under different conditions. 
Tested with the glasses arranged as in Figure 283, with a 
strip three-quarters of an inch wide, it lowered the water in 
the glass 2 inches in the first ten minutes, but required 
four hours and a half to diminish the level another inch. 
After this no more water was carried over into the lower 
vessel, but the rate of evaporation of the water in the 
goblet was considerably increased by the hair-felt, which 
lifted the water to a certain height and distributed it over 
the fibres of the felt, thereby exposing a very large sur- 
face to the action of the air. A piece of felt 2 inches wide 
tested in a similar manner gave similar results. An in- 
crease in the width or length of the felt did not make, in 
this case, an increase in the amount of the water trans- 
ferred from the upper to the lower vessel corresponding 
to the increased size, but increased the velocity. 

(b) Lamp-wicking. A material closely resembling the 
soft, porous lint formed in traps and waste pipes. This 
was tested both with and without its cylindrical fibrous 
covering, as it comes prepared in the market for use in 
lamps. The wicking was cylindrical in form and about 
34 inch in diameter. It was first tested without its cover. 
Placed as shown in Figure 283, the wicking lowered the wa- 
ter only 1^4 inches in seventeen and one-half hours, after 
which no further transfer took place. Placed as in Fig- 
ure 284, \Yx inches were transferred in the same time. With 
the wicking covering on, only half the amount of water 
was transferred in the same time. 

(c) Jute. A hempen, unwoven cord, with long, fine 
fibres, used by plumbers in caulking. This substance pro- 

320 



Capillary Action. 

duced the strongest capillary action, and acts like very fine 
hair and lint. Arranged as in Figure 283, a piece *4 mcn in 
diameter transferred i l / 2 inches in fifteen minutes and 2^ 
inches in four and three-fourths hours. Another piece, 1 
inch in diameter, transferred 2 inches in fifteen minutes, 
and the whole 4 inches in four and three-fourths hours. 
Another piece, supported as shown in Figure 284, raised the 
water 4^ inches, after which the lower end of the long arm 
dried up, and what water was thereafter raised from the 
goblet was carried off by evaporation, but not transferred 
to the low T er glass. 

(d) Hemp-cord, unravelled and separated into fibres, 
was in no case able to raise the water above 4 inches from 
its surface. 

(e) Twisted or braided, as it comes in cord for the mar- 
ket, it could not transfer more than 2 inches from glass to 
glass. 

(f) Pieces of linen twine (eight pieces) could not trans- 
fer more than ^4 inch. 

Beyond these points the various substances invariably 
dried up at their lower ends, after which, of course, what- 
ever water was taken from the upper vessel was removed 
by evaporation. 

Tests were then made on various similar fibrous sub- 
stances, both in the manner described and also enclosed in 
small, l /x -inch bent lead tubes, to prevent evaporation from 
effecting the action. In no case, except with sponges, 
could the water be raised over $ l / 2 inches, and rarely over 
3 inches by these substances. The outer arms dried up 
before the water in the upper glasses was lowered 3 or 3^2 
inches. Without the lead tubes, the outer arms dried up 
sooner than with them, hence less water was carried over 
into the lower glasses, but more was lost by evaporation. 
The loss of water was greater without the tubes, but the 

321 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

action was slower, since the drying up of the outer arms 
prevented the rapid removal by the combined capillary and 
siphoning action. 

Fig. 286 shows the manner in which tests for the limit of 
horizontal and inclined distances were made. It was found 
that an increase in horizontal distance facilitated the drying 
of the mass, and therefore correspondingly diminished the 
siphoning action. 

I will now place pieces of jute y 2 inch in diameter in each 
of the three glasses on the table, just as you see them rep- 
resented in the picture, and in a few minutes we will ob- 
serve the action they have produced. The water stands 
in each goblet exactly on a line with the top of the glass. 

From the experiments I have so far described, and 
numerous other tests made in the same manner, we learn 
that the extreme limit of the lifting power of very small 
quantities of the long, fibrous substances which might 
lodge in traps so as to exert a capillary action is within 
three inches. Sponge is the only substance known to the 
writer as likely to be found in waste pipes which has a 
lifting power exceeding this. The limit of sponge, even 
in large masses, appears from the tests made at the same 
time with the others, to be 8 inches ; but as the general 
shape of a sponge is spherical, and never filiform, and as 
no sponge large or long enough to extend upwards this 
distance or anything approximating it, and then down 
again the same distance into the waste pipe, could possibly 
be squeezed into a trap without stopping up the waterway 
altogether, the consideration of this material and all others 
of similar form need not enter into our calculation. 

Tests With Traps. 

Thus far the experiments have been made in the open 
air in ordinary open vessels. The tests were made in the 

322 



Capillary Action. 

shade, and in a temperature varying between 60 and 70 
degrees F., or the ordinary temperature of house interiors. 
To render these results of more practical value they should 
be compared with the tests made on the same materials in 
the actual positions found in practice — i. e., in the trap 
itself. The tests were, therefore, made both in detached 
traps and in traps fixed in position and properly attached 
to the drain pipe. 

Tests With Ordinary S-Traps. 

A i^-inch S-trap having i^-inch seal was arranged 
as shown in Figure 287. A string of jute 34 - i ncn i n diam- 




Fig. 287. S-Trap having its Water Seal Destroyed by Capillary 

Action. 

eter was introduced so as to extend from the bottom of 
the trap over the outlet and down several inches below 
the bottom. The experiment was repeated five times, the 
results each time being nearly identical. In the first half 
minute the water in the trap was lowered Y / 2 inch. Five 
minutes sufficed to lower it 1 inch, twenty minuts 1% 
inches ; a half-hour usually sufficed to break the seal, and 
about three hours was enough to leave the trap almost 
dry. 

The quantity of jute was afterward increased to 1 inch 

323 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

in diameter, which was the maximum possible, inasmuch 
as it was sufficient to fill the trap as full as it could ever 
possibly get in practice. In every case enough water was 
drawn out of the trap to break the seal in less than half 
an hour. Two minutes generally sufficed to lower the 
seal an inch. Hair-felt emptied the trap in from nine to 
fifteen minutes. 

Tests With Pot-Traps. 

A number of pot-traps were then tested. An 8-inch pot- 
trap having 3^-inch seal was arranged as shown in Figure 
288, the mass of jute being 1 inch in diameter. It required 
twenty-four hours to lower the water ij^ inches. Two 
days reduced it 1 13-16 inches; three days, if inches; 
seven days, 1 15-16 inches. After this no further change 
took place in the trap. Evaporation was too slow to make 
any perceptible difference in several days, since the trap 
was not ventilated. 

A vessel of water about the same size and form with 
the 8-inch pot-trap, but freely open above to the air, so 
that evaporation could go on, and having a piece of jute 
i l / 2 inches in diameter hanging over its edge, as in Figure 
283, lost 5 inches of water in five days. A portion was car- 
ried over as in the 8-inch pot-trap into the vessel below, 
but the rest was removed by evaporation hastened by the 
capillary action. 

A 6-inch pot trap similarly arranged lost 2 l /& inches in 
one day, 2 5-16 inches, 2^ inches and 2 7-16 inches, in 
two, three and five days, respectively, after which no ap- 
parent further change took place, the experiment lasting 
several days longer. 

A 3^-inch pot lost y% inch, 1 inch, 2 inches, 2^4 inches, 
2% inches and 3 inches in one, six, fifteen, forty-eight, sev- 
enty-two, 144 hours, respectively, after which no further 
change took place. 

324 



Capillary Action. 

Figs 288-b and 288-c show the manner in which the un- 
vented "Sanitas" trap is able to retain its seal under capil- 
lary action. The fibrous matter not being able to raise the 
water high enough to break the seal. The horizontal exten- 
sion of the unvented "Securitas" trap combined with the 
elevation^ of its outlet, provides similar protection. More- 
over, the construction of these traps is such that it would 
be impossible, without special manipulation, to so weave a 




Fig. 288. Pot Trap losing its Seal 
through Capillary Action. 



Fig 288e. Securitas Trap. 



Fig. 288d. Securitas Trap 
Antisiphon Traps Resisting 
Capillary Action. 



mass of fibrous material through the trap that it could con- 
nect the lower with the upper bend in such a manner as to 
place the former within the influence of capillary attraction. 
This reasoning was corroborated by prolonged tests. 

Thus we see that the effect of capillary action in traps 
detached from the drains is similar to that in open vessels, 
with the exception that in traps unventilated no percep- 
tible loss took place through evaporation, and that after the 
limit of perpendicular distance at which the capillary force 

325 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

can act has been attained, no further loss of water is per- 
ceptible. In open vessels, on the contrary, the draught on 
the water goes on indefinitely by rapid evaporation aided 
by the distributing process effected by the capillary action. 

Tests of the Effects of Capillary Action in Venti- 
lated and Unventilated S-Traps Fixed in Position. 

To test the loss by capillary action on ventilated S-traps 
as compared with the loss on the same when unventilated 
I attached an S-trap having a 4^8-inch deep seal to a 
branch waste entering the soil pipe, after having half filled 
the trap with jute as shown in Figure 288. With the trap 
unventilated the loss by capillary action was as follows : 
In the first five minutes ^2 inch ; in the first forty-five min- 
utes 1 inch ; in twenty-four hours 3 inches ; in three days 
3*4 inches ; in four days 3^ inches. Thereafter no further 
perceptible change took place. It made no perceptible 
difference whether the basin side of the trap was opened 
or closed, showing that evaporation in an unventilated trap 
is practically imperceptible. 

The experiment was then repeated on the same trap, 
ventilated at the crown, into a cold flue with the following 
result: In one hour i l /% inches had been removed; in 5 
hours 1% inches; in 22 hours 2]/ 2 inches; in two days 334 
inches; in 3 days 3^ inches; in 4 days 3^4 inches; in 5 
days 4 inches. Thus the loss continued at the rate of 
about 34 mcn a day by evaporation, after the outer end of 
the jute mess had entirely dried up. This rate of evapora- 
tion was nearly double what it would have been had it not 
been assisted by the capillary action. From this we see 
that ventilation greatly increases the danger arising from 
capillary action, often rendering the latter dangerous in 
cases where, without ventilation, the seal would not have 
been broken. 

326 



Capillary Action. 

To test this point still further I placed two ordinary 
drinking glasses, filled with water side by side. The first 
was treated as shown in Fig. 284, with a mass of jute hung 
nearly 5 inches above the surface of the water and having 
one end immersed in it as shown in the figure, the other 
extending below the bottom of the glass. Owing to the 
height from which the jute was suspended the water did 
not rise to the point of support ; consequently the outer 
arm was dry, and whatever loss of water was observed 
was, therefore, due to evaporation. 

The glass having the water alone lost by evaporation 
only 34. mcn m seven days, while that having the jute lost 
1 inch, or four times as much in the same time. 

Friction. 

A consideration of very great importance in trap con- 
struction and arrangement is the amount of retardation to 
the passage of the waste water caused by the friction 
against its interior surfaces. 

In order to obtain the quickest delivery and maximum 
of scouring action on the waste-pipes below the trap, it 
is important that the {rap should afford the minimum of 
obstruction to the flow of the water. Many traps, espe- 
cially gravity-ball and other mechanical traps, are so formed 
as to greatly retard the flow of the water. With many 
ball-traps, when the water is permitted to escape from 
the fixture through the waste pipe "full-bore" above the 
trap, the ball is so forcibly driven against the outlet mouth 
of the trap as to very seriously obstruct its further pas- 
sage, and prevent its exerting its full scouring effect on 
the pipe below. 

An ordinary S-trap offers the least resistance to the flow 
of the water, the gravity ball trap the most, if we except 
certain forms of mercury-seal traps. 

327 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

An ordinary bath tub arranged as shown in Fig. 243 will 
discharge through i^-inch waste pipe, 9 feet long, de- 
scending perpendicularly and without a trap, at the rate of 
1.4 gallons of water per second. 

An ordinary unventilated i^-inch S-trap, with a seal 
iy 2 inches deep, will retard the flow only 23 per cent, or it 
will discharge at the rate of a little more than one gallon 
a second. 

Another i^-inch unventilated S-trap emptied the tank 
at the rate of 1.1 gallons a second. 

The same trap ventilated prolonged the time of empty- 
ing the tank from 90 to 113 seconds, thereby retarding 
the flow 23 seconds or 26 per cent. The ventilation also 
created a loud and somewhat terrific roar during the en- 
tire duration of the discharge caused by the suction of the 
air at the vent opening. Without any trap, the tank dis- 
charged in 73 seconds. With a hinged valve trap, unven- 
tilated, it required 126 seconds. With the same trap ven- 
tilated a very much longer time or 163 seconds was re- 
quired ; the ventilation retarding the flow 37 seconds or 
30 per cent. 

A 4-inch pot trap, unventilated, required 104 seconds. 
The same ventilated required 144 seconds, or 38 per cent. 

A 4-inch bottle trap, unventilated, required 94 seconds. 
A gravity ball trap required 226 seconds. 

In both of these ventilation reduced the flow from 30 
to 35 per cent, by calculation. 

Thus we see that the average retardation of the dis- 
charge from a bath tub, and the consequent loss of scour- 
ing effect, caused by ventilation, is very great and amounts 
to about 30 per cent, or nearly a third of the whole when 
the outlet is arranged to discharge through a perpendicular 
waste "full bore } " and where the vent pipe is short. When 

328 



Friction. 

a long vent pipe is used the percentage of loss is somewhat 
less. The discharge of a wash basin having an outlet large 
enough to fill the waste-pipe " full-bore" gave similar rela- 
tive results for different traps. 



Summary of Ten Objections to Special Ventilation. 

I find, therefore, no advantage whatever in trap venti- 
lation. The disadvantages, however, are very serious, and 
may be summed up briefly as follows : 

(i) It destroys the trap seal by evaporation when ap- 
plied at or near the crown. With S-traps this position of 
the vent is necessary to prevent self-siphonage. 

(2) It can not always protect the trap from siphonage 
even when newly applied in the most approved manner. 

(3) It increases the unscoured area of the trap, making 
it a cesspool. It is a very strange piece of inconsistency 
to condemn the cesspool trap on account of its unscoured 
chamber and yet adopt in its place a ventilated S-trap, 
because by so doing the very thing we wish to avoid is 
reproduced in an aggravated form; the mouth of the vent 
pipe forming a sediment chamber which is not only greater 
in extent of surface, more easily fouled and less easily 
cleansed than that in the pot trap, but one which is far 
more dangerous in as much as its fouling, even to a lim- 
ited extent, involves the destruction of the whole system. 
I have found by repeated tests that the water discharged 
from a large outlet basin and trap placed where it should 
be near the floor, is thrown up from 10 to 18 inches into 
the vent pipe at every discharge. Thus a large sediment 
chamber is formed which has an area of nearly 100 square 
inches. Beyond this, congelation of fatty vapor fouls to 

329 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

an indefinite extent, and it is no uncommon thing to hear 
of a vent pipe filled with grease for several feet above a 
sink trap. 

(4) It retards the outflow of the waste water and its 
consequent scouring effect about a third when arranged to 
discharge perpendicularly "full-bore." 

(5) It complicates the plumbing and adds to the dan- 
ger of leakage through bad joining and increased mate- 
rial. 

(6) It aggravates the danger arising from capillary 
action. 

(7) It increases the corrosion of branch wastes by re- 
tarding the rapidity of flow and scouring effect allowing 
sediment to collect more rapidly than it otherwise would, 
and brings soil pipe and sewer air in contact with the 
branch wastes to take the place of the pure air of the 
house, which follows every discharge of the fixture. More- 
over, as soon as the mouth of the vent pipe begins to get 
clogged by sediment and grease, the air current it was 
intended to produce is partially or wholly arrested, and we 
then have an interior surface of foul piping equally exposed 
to corrosive action with the unventilated pipe, but more 
than double in quantity. 

(8) Finally it seriously increases the cost of plumb- 
ing, an increase which amounts to as much as from five to 
ten per cent on the total cost of the plumbing in new work, 
and indefinitely in old work in which the trap ventilation 
sometimes becomes by far the greatest part of the work 
to be done. 



330 



CHAPTER XX. 



By Passes. 



r25a77t2Z& 




Fig. 289. 



One of the evil ef- 
fects of the complica- 
tion of piping due to 
^ the trap vent law is 
3 that it renders the 
^N plumbing more diffi- 
cult to arrange, re- 
pair, and understand. 
The proper placing 
of the vent-pipes of- 
ten requires considerably more skill on the part of the work- 
men than is expected of or found in them. The result is 
a very frequent misplacement of the pipes, which sometimes 
remains undiscovered by the plumber, and even by the own- 
er, until made known by foul odors or more serious evils. 
Figs. 289 to 2Cfi> illustrate the manner in which this com- 
plication leads to trouble. The vents in these cases were 
all put according to the letter of the plumbing law, and 
seem at first sight to be correctly placed, but upon closer 
examination it will be discovered that they are not only 
themselves utterly valueless as ventilators, but that they 
destroy the value of all the traps. They form by their 
peculiar combinations open passageways for the entrance 
of sewer-air from the soil-pipe into the house. The er- 
rors appear to have been brought, after the completion of 
the work, to the attention of the board of health. 

These first five drawings are from the ''Sanitary Engi- 
neer." The arrows show the manner in which the sewer- 



331 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

air may find its entrance by circuitous route into the dwell- 
ing. In Fig. 289 three fixtures are trapped and vented. The 
wastepipe of the wash-basin enters that of the bath-tub in- 
side of the bath-tub trap. Had it entered beyond the trap, 
the difficulty would have been avoided. But inasmuch as 
it is not unusual, where no vent-pipes are used, to enter 




Fig. 290. 







Fig. 291. 

short branches on the house side of the trap, the error is 
not an unnatural one for the plumber to make. It is one 
which is not easily detected at a glance, and which might 
never be observed by the house-owner or anyone who was 
not an expert. The warmth of the air. in the house and 
the draught of the fire-places would often be sufficient to 
create a reverse current in the vent-pipe, and produce the 
movement shown by the arrows. It will be observed that 

332 



By Passes. 

the bath-tub trap is vented on both sides. The effect of 
this is to increase the destructive action of the ventilating 
current on the water seal of the trap. An S-trap, having 
the usual depth of seal of i^ in. or 1^4 m -, would lose 
this seal in a few hours if the current were rapid, or within 
two or three days with an ordinary current. The water 
closet trap being, as shown, larger than the others, a cur- 




FiR. 29! 




Fig. 293. 

rent might easily be formed over the bath trap simulta- 
neously on both sides of the trap. 

Figs. 291, 292, 293 give similar examples. In all cases 
the mistake lays in entering the waste of one fixture on the 
wrong side of the trap of another. In each illustration 
one of the traps will be found to have a double action ex- 
ercising against its water seal. 

As here arranged, we have excellent conditions for pro- 
ducing self-siphonage of the wash-basin trap. When a 

333 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

basin having an outlet as large as the one shown is dis- 
charged by lifting the plug it will fill its waste pipe " full- 
bore," and the contents of the basin up to its overflow 
opening will fill the pipe full as far as to the horizontal 
runs of the pipe. This long arm of the siphon will at once 
pull over the water in the short arm as soon as the basin 
is empty, and the suction on the trap will continue until 
the water column has traversed the entire length of the 
branch waste, thus giving the siphoning action ample time 
to suck out any water that may trickle down into the trap 
from the basin after the discharge. This action will be 
the more positive the longer the branch waste and the 
greater its pitch, attaining its maximum with the perpen- 
dicular position of the waste pipe. 

Fig. 294 exhibits still more forcibly the absurd confusion 
this system leads us to when we attempt to carry it out com- 
pletely in its logical consequences. We have here the vent 
and waste pipes for three simple fixtures, which are taken 
with some modification from a house in New York, where 
they have been exhibited with pride by their perpetrators. 
These fixtures and arrangements are repeated on each of 
several stories. We have shown only the waste and vent 
pipes. When to these, we imagine, are added the neces- 
sary hot and cold water supply and service pipes, we can 
form a pleasant idea of the condition of things our "branch- 
waste" ventilating engineers are bringing us to. The fix- 
tures have the double vent, recommended by some of our 
sanitary engineers and plumbers. The upper vent enters 
a flue or pipe heated by an interior steam-pipe, as shown, 
and is called the overflow and local vent pipe. None of 
the shallow traps used could withstand the action of these 
strong air-currents more than a few days or even hours. 
In consequence of this, house-owners often close up the 
overflow openings of wash-basins and bath-tubs with putty 

334 



By Passes. 

or corks in the hopes of rendering themselves secure against 
the odors resulting from evaporated trap seals. And this 
closure of the air supply to traps through overflow pas- 
sages greatly increases the danger of trap siphonage, as we 
shall hereafter show. 




Fig 294. 



Observe the complication of the plumbing involved by 
the use of these wriggling, interwining ventpipes, which, 
like venomous snakes, literally crawl about, ready to poison 
as well as puzzle and alarm the unhappy houseowner or 



335 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

plumber who unskillfully handles them, with the noxious 
vapors which they are designed to carry off in their bodies. 
In the economy of nature the serpent is found to have cer- 
tain useful purposes, but the trap-vent has none, and should 
suffer the serpent's curse and be crushed out of existence 
as soon as possible. 

One of Boston's leading plumbers said to me one day : 
"We know perfectly well that the 'back-vent' law is an 
imposition upon the public, but the law was brought about 
by the influence of the early sanitary engineers and the san- 
itary engineers must, therefore, be the ones to get it taken 
off again." But the plumbers are doing better than this 
remark implied, for many of them are co-operating with the 
sanitary engineers in their efforts to have this burden re- 
moved. 

The public are becoming so much alarmed at this increas- 
ing complication that they are reducing the conveniences 
of plumbing in their buildings to the smallest amount pos- 
sible, where its comforts might otherwise be enjoyed in per- 
fect safety. It is throwing an undeserved distrust upon 
the whole system of water-carriage. 

Past Experiments on Siphon age Made by Hellyer, 
Waring, Philbric, Bowditch, and Others. 

The experiments on the effects of siphonage made and 
published in this country and in Europe before those I have 
already described, were made chiefly with pan and hopper 
closets, and in such a manner as to produce a much feebler 
siphoning action than is obtained by the use of valve or 
plunger closets. A pan-closet produces a very slight siphon- 
ing action, and this closet is comparatively seldom used 
to-day, although it is by no means extinct. Valve and 
plunger closets are fast giving way to the improved forms 

336 



By Passes. 

of hopper closets, but there are, nevertheless, thousands 
still in use in all parts of the country. 

Even when the bowl of a pan-closet is rilled to the brim 
and emptied, as in the experiments of Col. Waring for the 
National Board of Health, by means of a plug, the obstruc- 
tions to the downfall of the water offered by the sides of 
the receiver and the inertia of the water standing in the 
trap, prevent a disturbance at all comparable with that 
caused by the discharge of powerful flushing closets. The 
value of a closet as a flushing-tank for the drain pipes is 
almost exactly proportional to its siphoning power. The 
investigations of Col. Waring are valuable particularly in 
showing the siphoning power on branch wastes of the dis- 
charge of bath-tubs into the main soil pipes, an arrangement 
extremely common, and in establishing the utmost limit of 
the siphoning power of the pan-closet, the one then most 
widely known and used. With the basin filled to the brim 
and suddenly discharged, the siphonage produced imme- 
diately broke the seal of unvented S-traps, but could not 
unseal a vented S. 

In the experiments of Bowditch and Philbrick a short 
hopper closet, the next in general use at that time, was 
employed, and, to secure as useful results as possible, the 
closet was charged with water from a two-gallon pail, in 
the manner usually done when it is used as a slop-hopper. 
Such a use of the short hopper forms a far severer test than 
its ordinary flushing, though not severer than may often 
be produced with the powerful flushing of modern fix- 
tures. More powerful siphoning action is often produced 
in practice in houses than was given by these tests, and the 
deductions based upon them which gave rise to the trap- 
vent law in many cities must be radically changed. For 
they showed that an S-trap, ventilated as they did it, and 
subjected to this strain, was secure, whereas a heavier strain 

33? 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

or a different method of venting may break its seal as I 
have described. 

The experiments of Hellyer in England form a better 
basis for plumbing legislation, inasmuch as his tests were 
made with those water-closets and other fixtures in com- 
mon use in England which produce a much severer effect. 



338 



CHAPTER XXL 




£^CMLHtJ/H3Z. 



Fig. 294. 



Fifteenth Century Lady at Her Toilet 
from Viollet le Duct 



Wash Basins. 

I 

The wash basins 

of the ancients 
were generally 
double, or provided 
with pitchers, and 
this is shown in 
the sculptures and 
paintings of -Egypt 
and in the figures 
on the bas reliefs 
and pottery of 
Grecian antiquity. 
Figure 294 shows the manner in which these early lava- 
tories were used. They were quite large and made of sil- 
ver or copper with pitcher to correspond. They were 
smooth on the inside so as not to retain dirt or soap, but 
engraved sometimes very richly on the outside. In use 
they were placed upon the floor, and the bather was obliged 
to rest upon the knees, and in this way the basin was used 
as a bath tub, not only for the head and hands, but for the 
whole body. 

I am indebted to the kindness of my friend Prof. Ed- 
ward S. Morse for permission to reproduce a number of 
illustrations of Japanese bathing appliances from his most 
delightful and instructive work entitled "J a P anese Homes 
and Their Surroundings," in this course. Simple con- 



fDictionnaire du Mobilier Francais, Vol. 
Morel, Paris. 



2. Published by A. 



339 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

veniences exist in Japanese houses for taking a hot or 
cold bath, as we shall show under Bath Tubs, but wash 
basins are more primitive. "In the country," says Prof. 
Morse, "a Japanese may be seen in the yard or by the 
roadside washing his face in a bucket or shallow tub, and 
at inns and even in private houses one is given a copper 




Fig. 296. Japanese Wash Basin.J 



basin, and, a bucket of water being brought, he uses a por- 
tion of the verandah as a wash stand." The one shown in 
Fig. 295 shows how the Japanese of modern times per- 
petuate mediaeval customs, the shallow trough on the floor 
corresponding with the carved silver or copper utensils of 



iFrom "Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings," by Edward 
S. Morse. 

340 



Wash Basins. 

the ancient days. The Japanese lavatory consists of a shal- 
low trough resting on the floor at the end of the verandah 
or passageway containing a copper basin and a stout water 
bucket with cover. 



297. 




Simplicity in Plumbing Appliance? 
Her Toilet.* 



Japanese Lady at 



The bather must crouch upon the ground in order to 
use this basin, like the people of the past. 

Another illustration of floor lavatory is shown in Fig. 
296. It was placed at the end of the verandah. "A low 
partition formed a screen at one side; within the recess 
thus made was a low shelf for the pottery water jar. The 



•From Japan Tllustre by Aime Humbert Libraire de l'Hachette 
et Cie, Paris. 1S70. 

341 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

floor of the sink consisted of bamboo rods placed close 
together, through which the spilled water found its way 
by proper channels to the ground without. A paper lan- 
tern hung against the wall, and dipper and towel rack 
were conveniently at hand." 

The ornamental woodwork in these lavatories is often 




Fig. 298. Japanese Wash Stand.* 

very attractive, but the waste water disposal is exceed- 
ingly primitive and objectionable in every way. 

It is difficult for us, moreover, to understand how the 
Japanese find comfort in the cramped position necessary 
to use these low set wash basins. 

Fig. 298 shows a form of lavatory more familiar to us. 
It is a private house in Tokio in a recessed portion of a 
passageway behind a suite of rooms. Sliding windows 
with white paper panes admitted light to this most attract- 



: From Prof. Morse's "Japanese Homes,'" 
342 



Wash Basins. 

ive and carefully finished toilet room with its quaint 
towel rack and neat and simple natural furnishings. The 
water jar is of rich brown pottery, the dipper of wood and 
the basin of copper. Prof. Morse says of it: "It may seem 
odd for one to get enthusiastic over so simple an affair as 
trough and a few honest contrivances for washing the 
hands and face ; nevertheless such a plain and sensible 
arrangement is a relief, in contrast to certain guest cham- 
bers at home, where one wishing to go through the rather 
vigorous performance of dashing into the water with his 
elbows outstretched finds these free movements curtailed 
to the last degree by a regiment of senseless toilet articles 
in the shape of attenuated bottles, mugs, soap dishes with 
rattling covers and diminutive top-heavy pitchers crowded 
about his wash 'basin, and all resting on a slab of white 
marble. Things are inevitably broken if they are brought 
down too hard upon such a bottom. After such recollec- 
tions, one admires the Japanese sink, with its durable flat- 
bottomed basin, capacious pottery jar for water, and ample 
space to thrash about in without fear of spattering the wall 
paper or smashing a lot of useless toilet articles in the 
act." 

This comparison is with our portable basin and pitcher, 
the neat Japanese wooden sink taking the place of our 
troublesome and uninviting slop pail with its perforated 
cover, upon which the tormented bather is expected to 
guide the waste water from the basin after use with un- 
erring hand or find half its contents on the carpet. Neither 
arrangement, however, can compare for a moment with 
our hygienic and generous city lavoratories, where ample 
space is provided by a broad slab for free and luxurious 
bathing, and a judicious arrangement of soap dish and 
other conveniences on a special shelf above. We must, 
however, in our cities sacrifice a portion of our thrash- 

343 



Wash Basins. 

the waste pipe and trap. The result is imperfect flushing 
of these pipes and traps, gradual accumulation of filth in 




Fig. 299. Japanese Towel Racks.* 

them, and the various serious evils to which such accumula- 
tions give rise. 

Not only then should every wash basin be constructed 



'From Prof. Morse's "Japanese Homes. 
344 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

ing about for the advantages of immediate and convenient 
removal of the waste water after use by the mere turning 
of the waste water handle, and thus doing away with the 
sink or slop pail receiver, which, whether in America or 
Japan, must retain in its corners more or less sediment 
from the dirty water discharge, however carefully it is 
cleansed in the daily rounds of the chambermaid. 

Fig. 279 shows some of the simple and interesting rus- 
tic towel racks used by the Japanese. They are made of 
bamboo and suspended in the various ways shown. "The 
simplest kind is in the shape of a ring of bamboo sus- 
pended by a larger bamboo, to the end of which it is at- 
tached. Another form, and a very common one, is a yoke 
of bamboo, the lower ends of which are firmly secured to 
a larger bamboo, confining at the same time a piece of 
bamboo which slides freely up and down on the yoke, and 
by its own weight resting on the towel which may be thrown 
across the lower bamboo. Another form consists of a loop 
of bamboo suspended to the side of a board which is hung 
against the wall. 

"The towels are pretty objects, being of cotton or linen, 
and usually have printed upon them sketchy designs in 
two shades of blue." 

Coming now from the appliances of other times and 
people to our own requirements, we find the form and 
construction of our lavatories a matter of much greater 
importance than is generally supposed. We are to abolish 
trap venting and obtain the cleansing of our branch waste 
pipe system through water flushing. All our plumb- 
ing fixtures must therefore be constructed on the principle 
of the flush tank ; that is, they must have discharge outlets 
as large in their clear waterway as the waste pipes to which 
they are connected. As usually constructed, the outlets 
are still altogether too small in proportion to the size of 

345 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

on the principle of the flush tank, but it should be so con- 
structed as to encourage its actual use as such, or, in other 
words, so as to render it more convenient to use it properly 
as a flushing apparatus than improperly as a simple open 
funnel to guide the water, used running from the faucet 
into the waste pipe. Both economy and safety as well as 
convenience are dependent upon such construction. 

It will be found on accurately measuring the clear water- 
way in the outlets of the majority of lavatories now in use 
that when the space and function of the strainer are con- 
sidered, the efficiency of the flush is very greatly reduced, 
and with all lavatories of the older styles having the con- 
ventional forms of basin and sink strainers the amount of 
waterway is not more than equal to that of a J4~inch pipe. 
A very short usage soon reduces this meagre opening, 
through the collection of sediment and lint, to a still smaller 
stream. The waste pipes are usually ij4 to 13/2 inches in 
diameter, a capacity which is given for the purpose of 
ensuring the safe removal of the water delivered by two 
supply faucets running full force, under medium or high 
city pressure, and escaping through the outlet and overflow 
passages combined, together with a possible simultaneous 
discharge of other adjoining fixtures entering the same 
waste. Now a half or three-quarter-inch stream of waste 
water trickling through pipes capable of delivering many 
times as much, fouls but does not scour them. I have 
taken out such waste pipes and found them more than half 
filled with slime and filth, and in places where the pipe ran 
nearly horizontal, or made sharp bends, I have found them 
nearly filled with the putrefying mass. No amount of ven- 
tilation can cleanse such pipes. But the sediment was soft 
and gelatinous, and would easily have been swept away by 
the powerful discharge of a basin filling the pipes "full 
bore." 

346 



Wash Basins. 

As already described, I caused a piece of waste pipe in 
which coating of sediment had been collecting for a long 
time to be flushed by a wash basin constructed with a large 
outlet after removing the plug and chain basin through the 
use of which the sediment had been deposited. From the 
new basin the water rushed at the rate of about half a gal- 
lon a second. After two or three discharges it was found 
that almost all of the coating of greasy sediment and slime 
had been removed by the powerful friction of the water. 

It must be borne in mind that the scouring effect of a 
stream of water (irrespective of its size) which fills the 
waste pipe "full bore" is entirely different from that which 
only partially fills it. The former flows with a velocity 
and force determined by the weight of its entire column, 
or under a head equal to its perpendicular length; while 
the latter falls without head, because the air breaks the 
continuity of the Vvater column, and then the velocity and 
force occasioned by the head is entirely destroyed. 

Now, with a very small flushing stream an S-trap be- 
comes equivalent to a pot trap, and its fouling tendency is 
as great as a pot trap having a waterway bearing the same 
proportion to the size of its body that the contracted basin 
outlet bears to the body of the S-trap, and the same holds 
even with a straight waste pipe itself. 

As the first aim and principle of sanitary engineering is 
to remove foul matters as rapidly and completely as pos- 
sible, so, in the present connection, our first care should 
be to see that our fixtures are formed with outlets large 
enough to fill the pipes full bore in order to accomplish 
this result. 

Had the framers of our present plumbing laws included 
a provision requiring a ll lavatories to be constructed on 
this principle, instead of insisting upon the worse than use- 
less trap and branch waste ventilation, the public would 

347 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

have been benefited in many more ways than one. No 
reason is given why the laws should now continue to exist 
with these serious imperfections, and no good reason can 
be given. 

It remains to be seen how soon the good sense of the 
public will demand their correction. 

Besides the important sanitary advantage of a rapid 
discharge, we have others of economy and convenience. 
To empty an ordinary basin with contracted outlet re- 
quires a very considerable amount of time and patience. 
The result is that people fall into the habit of washing 
from the faucet rather than from the basin, and a great 
waste of water is involved. A quick wasteland convenient 
method of operating and controlling it results in a saving of 
water and very great convenience in usage. A knowledge 
that a sudden discharge of a basinful of water through the 
pipes acts as an important sanitary measure, after the man- 
ner of a flushing tank, in cleansing them from end to end, 
leads to a legitimate use of the basin, and an economy of 
water, a consideration which the public in times of droughts 
will not be slow to appreciate. 

A critical examination of the leading types of fixtures 
now in use is necessary to enable us to understand clearly 
what features are to be recommended, and what are to be 
avoided. Such a classification is also indispensable to 
enable us to judge at once for ourselves the merits of any 
fixture we may be called upon to examine. It systematizes 
our ideas, and in this lies its chief difference from a mere 
"cataloguing" of plumbers' supplies, which oftener results 
in confusion. From these considerations it is evident that 
our drawings must illustrate, not imaginary types, but those 
in actual use, in order to be of any practical benefit as a 
guide in selection, and hence we shall in most cases select 
some special fixture as a standard representing its class. 

348 



Wash Basins. 

Classification of Requirements for Basins. 

The ideal wash-basin should possess the following char- 
acteristics : 

( i ) It should be so formed as to permit of a discharge 
rapid enough to fill the waste pipe "full bore." 

(2) It should have a suitable overflow without con- 
cealed or inaccessible passage. 

(3) The whole of the fixture and all of its parts should 
be easily accessible at all times. 

(4) Its outlet passage should be controlled by a mech- 
anism requiring but a single, simple movement to operate 
it, and the minimum of strength or effort. 

(5) It should be easy to set, and have no parts liable 
to clog or get out of order. 

(6) Its outlet mechanism should be so constructed as to 
require no fitting or adjusting. 

(7) It should have a minimum of surface exposed to 
the water used. 

(8) It should be simple, durable, economical and pleas- 
ing in appearance. 



349 



CHAPTER XXII. 



Classification of the Different Kinds of Basins. 



I have divided 
basins into two 
general classes : ( i ) 
Those having 
concealed over- 
flow passages, and 
(2) those having 
open overflow 
passages. Each of 
these is subdivided 
as follows : 

Basins having 
concealed over- 
flows into: 




Fig. 301. Ordinary Wash Basin with 
Plug and Chain Outlet. 



(a) Plug-and-chain outlet. 

(b) Waste-cock outlet. 

(c) Valve outlet. 

(d) Plunger outlet. 

(e) Floating-plug outlet. 

(f) Standpipe outlet. 

(g) Receiver outlet. 

Basins having open overflows into: 

(a) Funnel outlet. 

(b) Standpipe outlet. 

(c) Rear outlet. 

Each of the above classes may have for its supply either 
ordinary standing faucets or nozzles supplying water at 
some point or points below the basin rim. 



350 



Classification of the Different Kinds of Basins. 

I. — Concealed Overflow Basins. 
This class of fixture violates one of the first conditions 
of sanitary plumbing. A portion of the apparatus intended 
to carry off waste water at irregular and uncertain inter- 
vals, by which it becomes fouled without the possibility of 




Fig. 302. Section of an All Porcelain Plug and Chain Basin. 




Fig. 303. Section of Plug and Chain Basin with Overflow Passage 
Cast with the Basin in One Piece. 

cleansing through water flushing action, is placed in such a 
position that it cannot be seen nor reached without discon- 
necting the whole fixture. 

Our first subdivision of this class is the ordinary (a) 

Plug and Chain Outlet Basin. 
We see here (Fig. 301) a concealed overflow pipe con- 

351 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

structed of lead and so placed as to be altogether inacces- 
sible. Being above in open communication with the air of 
the room, it taints it with the decomposing soap and filth 
with which its sides soon become coated, and this odor and 
the fear of sewer gas leads to the common practice among 
house owners of stopping up the holes in the earthenware 
leading into the overflow pipe at considerable inconvenience 
to themselves and increase in siphoning action upon traps 
below. 




Fig. 303 bis. 

The ordinary wash-basin has no proper flange for con- 
nection with the lead overthrow pipe, and the joint in the 
majority of cases is not a reliable one at this point. The 
connection of the lead overflow pipe with the waste pipe 
must be made above the trap, and must be wiped with 
solder, so that two joints are necessitated at the overflow, 
which add both to the expense of the work and to the 
chances of imperfection and leakage. It is an exceedingly 
common thing to find the overflow pipe wrongly connected. 

352 



Plug and Chain Basins. 

It is sometimes entered below the trap, sometimes attached 
directly to the trap vent, and sometimes connected with the 
wastes of other fixtures in such a way as to open through 
the vent pipes an indirect avenue into the house for sewer 
air, as we have shown in our illustrations of "by-passes." 

It forms, in short, an unnecessary and dangerous com- 
plication to the plumbing, which more than offsets any slight 
saving in the first cost of these cheap fixtures, and they 
should never be used. 

The plug and chain feature which characterizes this type 
of basin is another defect. The chain, lying in every suc- 




Fig. 304. All Porcelain Plug and Chain Basin. 

cessive formation of dirty water, collects gradually in the 
recesses of its links an unknown variety of filth, which can- 
not be absolutely removed, on account of its irregular form, 
without the use of special alkalies, or constant scrubbing 
with a brush, a process I have never seen applied to it effect- 
ively. The length of wire used in an ordinary basin chain 
averages six feet, and has a surface of about fourteen 
square inches, a surface which, in consideration of the pe- 
culiar adaptability of the form of the links for retaining 
dirt presents a very formidable area of pollution.* To those 
persons who use their reasoning powers in these matters, 
the idea of washing the face in water defiled by a chain 
transferred immediately from the dirty water of some un- 

*A chain of average cleanness might easily contain more than at 
grain of dirt unnoticed in its links, which bacteriologists have shown 
may contain over a million bacteria. 

353 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

known predecessor is with good reason exceedingly repul- 
sive, and when the nature of disease germs in water before 
it reaches the sewer are considered the danger of contagoin 
where the predecessor may have chanced to be a sufferer 
from skin or other contagious disease the feeling of repul- 
sion is justly increased. The chain, moreover, frequently 
breaks, and then the hand must be plunged into dirty water 
to remove the plug. The position of the chain and plug 
at the bottom of the bowl is peculiarly inconvenient, inas- 
much as they are in the way of the hands, which ought to 




Fig. 305. All Porcelain Plug- and Chain Basin. 

meet a smooth, unbroken surface of earthenware, rather 
than the hard and irregular lines of the brasswork. If this 
latter consideration appears to some trivial, it does so only' 
because custom has rendered us callous to such defects ; 
the defect none the less exists, and acquires importance 
through the frequency of its repetition and the constant use 
of the fixture in which it occurs. The fact that it is alto- 
gether unnecessary, either for economy or for any other 
reason, is a sufficient argument for its abolition. Thus we 
find none of the eight desiderata enumerated in our table 
of requirements that the wash-basin, still in most common 
use, possesses. 

354 



Plug and Chain Basins. 



Figures 302, 303, 304 and 305 represent in section and 
in perspective all-porcelain plug and chain basins. Figs. 
302, 303, 304 and 305. 

Figure 306 represents a plug and chain basin with a 
flushing rim supply. The disadvantages of this arrange- 
ment are quite as great as the advantages. Water cannot 
be drawn into a separate vessel from this form of supply, 
and this is often quite important. Moreover, the flushing 
rim greatly increases the cost of the fixture. The object 




Fig. 306. Plug and Chain Basin with a Flushing Rim Supply. 

of the flushing rim is to cause a partial cleansing of the 
sides of the basin by the running water before filling. 

Constructing the overflow pipe in one piece with the basin, 
as shown in Figs. 302 to 305, gives a great advantage. The 
danger of defective overflow connections is thus avoided, 
and the setting of the basin is very much easier. A closure 
of the overflow holes of this basin affords an actual tem- 
porary safeguard against the evils arising from evaporation 

355 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

of the water seal caused by trap ventilation, where a fixture 
is left unused for any length of time, provided the outlet 
be also tightly closed and both closures be closely watched. 
But in this case the danger of damage from overflow ap- 
pears. 

Figure 307 represents a basin with a plug and stem outlet, 
the earliest form constructed by the writer. 




Fig. 307. 



Basin with a Plug and Stem Outlet. 



(b) Waste Cock Outlet. 

Here the outlet passageway is controlled by an ordinary 
ground brass water-cock. 

The general type may be further subdivided into 
three kinds : ( 1 ) Those having perpendicular waste-cock 
moved by a rod passing through the marble slab; (2) those 
having a horizontal waste-cock worked from the front of 
the stand below the bowl ; and (3) those in which the waste- 
cock is operated by a lever movement. 

As an illustration of the first kind we have the so-called 
"Boston Waste," Fig. 308, which is very popular. There is 
probably no form of basin fitting more faulty in principle 
than this. It contains two independent, inaccessible and 
invisible foul water passages, one forming the overflow 

356 



Waste Cock Outlet Basins. 

passage, and the other the outlet passageway between the 
strainer and the waste-cock. 

This latter passage forms an elongated cesspool for the 
defilement of the clean water entering the basin. After 
using the fixture, the waste water escaping through this 
channel deposits part of its dirt, particularly floating mat- 
ters and soapsuds, all along its sides, and leaves it there to 
be taken up and applied in a diluted solution to the hands 




Fig. 308. Waste-Cock Outlet Basin, the "Boston Waste." 

and face of the next comer. Six wiped solder joints, one 
putty joint and five threaded joints, making twelve in all, 
are required to adjust the waste pipes of the regular Bos- 
ton Waste apparatus and its trap below the basin slab can- 
not be relied upon as a sure seal at all times against sewer 
gas, because we cannot depend upon its always being turned 
off after use, this device becomes valueless. 

No wonder the plumber is often in requisition to keep in 

357 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

order such complicated machines so long as they are al- 
lowed to remain in use. Not the least of its defects is 
that the passageway for the waste water through the ground 




Fig. 309. The Waste-Cock Outlet Basin with Syphon Overflow. 




Fig. 310. Waste-Cock Outlet Basin with Horizontal Plug. 

cock is usually so small (about a quarter of an inch wide 
in some types) that the least deposit of sediment is liable 
to radically impede this meagre flow. 



358 



Waste Cock Outlet Basins. 

The "Boston Waste" cannot be too highly condemned 
and should be prohibited in all plumbing ordinances, as 
should all restricted outlet basins, because with these al- 
lowed, no proper sewerage system can ever be attained. 
The great extent of the use of fixtures constructed on the 
principle of the "Boston Waste," in spite of its high cost, 
shows how little knowledge the public has in these matters, 
and how important it is that their attention should be called 
to them. 

In Fig. 309 we have the Boston Waste complicated with 
still another disorder. The overflow pipe, instead of open- 
ing into the upper part of the basin, descends and re-en- 
ters the waste pipe on the inner side of the waste cock. 
This doubles the length of the inaccessible cesspool be- 
tween the outlet and the waste-cock. Its object was ap- 
parently to trap the overflow pipe ; but as the waste-cock 
cannot be relied upon as a sure seal at all times against 
sewer-gas, because we cannot depend upon its always being 
turned off after use, this device becomes valueless. 

Figure 310 represents the second kind of waste-cock out- 
let basin in which the waste-cock is horizontal, and oper- 
ated through the riser or woodwork of the washstand. This 
arrangement necessitates encasing the basin to some extent 
in finish, a requirement which adds another to its many dis- 
advantages. In other respects it is similar to the "Boston 
Waste" already described. 

Figure 311 illustrates by a special apparatus, possibly 
never executed in its entire perfection, the third kind of 
waste-cock outlet basin. The fixture shown is an English 
invention devised by some one who had seen Mr. Bunyon's 
sewer already described. It is useful to illustrate the evils 
of over-complication. The machinery is moved by cranks 
and levers connected with a pedal in front of the stand. 
How the inventor could have imagined anyone would be 

359 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



tJt 




Fig. 311. Waste-Cock Outlet Basin with Lever Movements. 



360 



Waste Cock Outlet Basins. 

found willing to pay for so complicated a piece of brass- 
work is difficult to understand. In the device a lid is em- 
ployed to cover the basin when it is not in use, and there 
is a thick rubber gasket not quite so large and costly as 
an automobile tire around the basn to form a sewer 
gas tight packed joint with the lid which is held pressed 
against the packing when closed by a strong spring. Two 
waste-cocks, one for the main outlet, and the other for the 
overflow, and one or more supply cocks are used, and these 
cocks are connected with the lid in such a manner that, 
when the lid is raised or lowered, the supply and waste- 
cocks are respectively opened and shut. The waste-cock 
thus does not serve as a seal against sewer gas, and a sepa- 
rate trap, not however shown, would be necessary. The lid 
mechanism would require the strength of a stone crusher 
to operate this net work of valves and levers even when new, 
and it never seems to have occurred to the inventor that 
dirty water would soon take away what little mobility they 
might have in the beginning. 



361 



CHAPTER XXIII. 




(c) Valve Outlet Basin. 

I Our next type of wash-basin corre- 
ff\ f^f' s P on ds in principle with the valve water 
T'r ^H/jjJ closet. The outlet is closed by a valve 
V working in a small chamber or receiver, 
I which, like the water closet receiver, is 
I liable to become clogged with sediment. 
I Moreover, the concealed machinery neces- 
*jj sary to work the valve complicates the ap- 
L! paratus, and like all machinery, especially 
"Perfected" Fr p>ath that which works under dirty water, is 

Room Apparatus.* Hable tQ get QUt of Qrden 

We have further subdivided this type into three kinds, 
i. e., those with (i) chain movement; (2) lever movement, 
and (3) gravity movement. 

Figure 312 illustrates the first kind. We have here two 
elongated cesspools and a receiver cesspool. No overflow 
passage is shown in this drawing, though provision for 
overflow is of course as necessary as in any of the preced- 
ing examples. 

A valve arranged as shown here would never work sat- 
isfactorily. The slightest impurity adhering to it or its 
seat would cause it to leak, and a little roughness or cor- 
rosion on the hinge might prevent its closing altogether. 

Figure 313 represents a valve outlet basin operated by 
lever movement. The drawing shows a double bottom, the 



♦Portable wash basin over fixed bath tub, from Joly, chapter 
headed "Appareils Economiques Perfectionnes." From the Amer- 
ican point of view, the arrangement, especially the trapping, does 
not seem quite "perfect." 

362 




Fig. 312. Valve-Outlet Basin with Chain Movement. 




Fig. 313. Valve-Outlet Basin with Lever Movement. 
363 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation 

upper one being perforated throughout its entire extent, 
and forming an enormous strainer. The valve receiver oc- 
cupies the whole space between the two basins. The amount 
of inaccessible fouling space is here very large and of pecu- 
liarly objectionable form, the many perforations and corners 
being calculated to retain a great deal of filth. The waste 
water escaping through so many holes would pass without 
force or scouring effect, and the cleansing of such a strainer 




Fig-. 314. Valve-Outlet Basin with Outlet Supply. 

would be practically an impossibility. Some overflow pas- 
sage, not shown on the drawing, would be required. 

Figure 314 shows a basin of the same kind with a smaller 
receiver. The supply enters below the strainer, which is 
evidently objectionable for several reasons. In case of fluc- 
tuation in the water supply pressure, foul water might be 
drawn from the basin into the supply pipes. Moreover, the 
dirty deposits in the valve receiver would always be mixed 
vvith the first clean water entering the basin. 

364 



Valve Outlet Basin. 




Fig. 315. Valve-Outlet Basin with Improved Lever Movement 





Fig. 316. 



Fig. 317. 



365 




Fig. 320. 



366 



Fig. 322. 




Fig. 324. 



Fie. 325. 




Fig. 326. 
367 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Figure 315 shows an improvement on the last device 
because the receiver above the valve is eliminated alto- 
gether. 

Figures 316 and 317 give the third subdivision of our 
valve outlet basin, namely, that in which the valve is oper- 
ated by the weight of the water falling upon it. Comment 
on such a device is scarcely necessary, it being sufficiently 
evident that its action would be extremely unreliable and 
unsatisfactory. The valve is made flat or cupped on its 
upper surface. In the latter case water held in the cavity 
of the valve is supposed to assist in forming a seal. 

Figures 318 to 326 represent other forms of Valve Outlet 
Basin, all to be recommended for their simplicity, large out- 
lets and cleanliness, there being no fouling chambers at the 
outlet. Where the overflow passages are accessible for 
cleansing, these fixtures are in all respects excellent. 



368 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



(d) Plunger Outlet Basin. 




Our plunger outlet basin corresponds 
with the plunger outlet water closet, and 
has its defects. A great defect is its sev- 
eral inaccessible fouling chambers. The 
type may be subdivided into two styles, 
namely: (i) That having a solid plunger, 
and (2) that having a hollow plunger. 

Figure 327 represents the first style. The 
plunger is supposed to retain the water in 
the basin by the friction of a packing ring 
of some elastic material against the inner 
Fig. 333. walls of the plunger chamber. A D-trap 

appropriately used under the plunger completes a device 
which, for extent of fouling surface, cannot easily be sur- 
passed. Fig. 328 is an improvement on the last type. There 
are less fouling surfaces and the outlet passages are made 
of smooth earthenware. The plunger chamber is made ac- 
cessible by unscrewing the plate at its top, and the horizontal 
channel below the strainer is the only part that cannot be 
reached. 

Figure 329 is a still further improvement, inasmuch as 
the horizontal chamber is done away with by having a per- 
pendicular back to the bowl. The overflow passage is faulty. 
It should have been constructed after the principle of the 
preceding fixture, or better still, in the form of a simple 
standpipe on the plunger. The chief defect, however, is in 
having the clean water come in contact with the fouled sur- 



369 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



face of the plunger chamber. The valve should always be 
placed directly at the outlet opening to avoid this defect. 




Figr. 32 S 



Figure 330 represents the second style of plunger out- 
let basin in which the plunger is hollow. We have, how- 
ever, here again the favorite cesspool triply emphasized. 



370 



Plunger Outlet Basin. 




Fig. 329. 




Fig. 330. 



(e) Floating Plug Outlet Basin. 

The object of this device, Figs. 331 and 332, is to 
do away with the special overflow opening in the basin 

371 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




Pig. 331. 




Fig 



walls. The plunger or plug has a hollow vessel at the upper 
end of its stem, and the receiver is enlarged at this point 
to give room for it. When the water in the basin approaches 

372 



Plunger Outlet Basin. 

the point of overflowing, the plunger is buoyed up by the 
float (the water seeking its level in the plunger and float 




Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

chamber), and the outlet is opened, letting the superfluous 
water in the basin escape. 

(f) Concealed Standpipe Outlet Basin. 
The object of this arrangement is the same as the float- 




Concealed Standpipe Outlet Basin. 

ing plug in the preceding apparatus. It enables the spe- 
cial overflow opening to be dispensed with, the hollow plun- 
ger rod serving instead. Figs. 334 to 336 show the stand- 
pipe as constructed with a metallic chamber. 




Fig. 337. 




Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Figure 337 shows a concealed standpipe outlet basin 
made in all earthenware. 

Figure 338 is a very complicated form of concealed stand- 
pipe Outlet Basin with an enormous amount of fouling 
surface. 

(g) Receiver Outlet Basin. 

The principal object of this device is to obtain a quick 
discharge. It consists of two basins, one within the other, 
the inner one pivoted, as shown in Fig. 339, in such a man- 
ner as to permit it to be revolved by means of a projection 
on the front edge, raising which empties the entire contents 
of the basin into a lower basin or receiver. Only half of 
the receiver is accessible, hence it inevitably becomes foul 
in use. 




Fig. 339. Receiver Outlet Basin. 
376 



Plunger Outlet Basin. 

II. — Basins Having Accessible Overflow Passages. 

In this class of fixture every part, both of the basin 
proper and of its fittings and passages, is visible and easily 
accessible, and kept clean from top to bottom without un- 
screwing or undoing any part. We find three subdivisions : 
(a) the funnel outlet basin; (b) the standpipe outlet basin, 
and (c) the rear outlet basin. 

(a) The Funnel Outlet Basin. 
Figure 340 illustrates our first subdivision. In general 
form it is similar to the one just described, but it has the 




Fig. 340. Funnel Outlet Basin. 



advantage of enabling the entire surface of the lower basin 
to be reached for cleansing purposes. The interior of the 
outlet pipe may be inspected and, if desired, periodically 
cleansed throughout. It is intended that the upper basin 
should be lifted after use, and the waste water emptied 

377 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

into the lower basin or funnel. In case of overflow, the 
water runs over the edge of the upper basin and falls into 
the lower, whence it escapes into the waste pipe. It is 
evident that to avoid the trouble of lifting the basin it may 
be provided with lugs or pivots upon which it may be re- 
volved as in the preceding example. 

Both of these types are altogether faulty in being based 
on the receiver principle, which also adds greatly to the 
cost and danger of breaking. The receiver is an entirely 
unnecessary complication, and the basin has never been 
largely used in practice except in marine service. 

Basins are sometimes provided with a flusning nozzle 
for connection with the water supply. The flushing device 
is added to insure a perfectly clean overflow passage when- 
ever the owner sees fit to operate it. A leakage of water- 
cock at this point would give rise to an unperceived waste 
of water. This fixture is constructed with a large outlet 
on the principle of the flush tank, and is in this respect highly 
to be commended. 

(e) The Rear Outlet Basin. 

The basin answering all the desiderata I have enumer- 
ated at the beginning of this lecture should have an out- 
let larger than its waste pipe and conveniently operated 
within the basin itself. It should be absolutely simple, hav- 
ing neither niche, chain nor standpipe, and its overflow pas- 
sage should be as clean and accessible as any other part of 
the fixture. 



378 



CHAPTER XXV. 

(b) Standpipe Overflow Basin and (c) Direct Outlet 

Basin. 



Before 1883 lavatories 
were made, as a rule, 
with concealed overflows, 
strangely enough, and 
open standpipe overflow 
basins had not been intro- 
duced. The first basin of 
this kind was beaten out in 
the winter of that year, 
1883, of sheet lead after 
the writer's drawings and 
afterwards moulded in a 
local terra cotta yard in 
yellow clay and baked, and 
the name "Sanitas"' was given to this new type. 

Mr. Gerhard, in one of his European treaties on Plumb- 
ing,* writes of it in 1897 as follows : 

"The prototype of all basins of this construction is the 
"Sanitas" wash basin, invented several years ago by the 
Boston architect, Putnam, which is shown in plan and trans- 
verse section in Fig. 341, and in perspective in Figs. 342, 




First Rear Outlet. 
Lavatories and their Early 
Setting. 



"Entwasserungs-Anlagen Amerikanischer Gebaude von Win. Paul 
Gerhard, Civil and Sanitary Engineer in New York, in Fortschritte auf 
dem Gebiete der Architektur. Stuttgart 1897. Vejiag von Arnold 
Bergstrasser." 

379 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

343.** This device is in many respects fundamentally dif- 
ferent from the kinds of basins hitherto described, and is 
distinguished by the advantage of having a simple, con- 
venient and sanitary construction. The basin is made either 
round or elliptical, and has at its back a niche or recess, in 
which is placed in clear and open view a standpipe valve. 





Fig. 341. 



As this serves at the same time as an overflow pipe, we have 
in it a new form of overflow construction for basins. All 
parts of the basin and its fittings are in sight and easily 
accessible, and it contains no concealed chamber or parts of 



**The Figures in Mr. Gerhard's treatise give other views of the 
Sanitas basin. 



380 



Standpipe Overflow and Direct Outlet Basins. 

any kind, as is the case with many of the basins of other 
styles for the collection of sediment. The overflow pipe is 
made detachable, but can nevertheless be easily cleaned with- 
out removal." Mr. Gerhard then describes the appliance in 
detail and concludes as follows: "The many acknowledged 
advantages of the 'Sanitas' basin produced the result that 
a great number of basins of similar construction were put 
upon the market. Nevertheless, in spite of all the recog- 
nized advantages of this kind of basin, the American public 
were fond of the concealed overflow type, and even the 
recommendations of the leading sanitary engineers have not 




Fig. 343. 



as yet succeeded in bringing this type of basin into univer- 
sal use." 

Again, in "Good Housekeeping," Mr. Gerhard writes in 
1886 : "Much the best form of basin of which I have knowl- 
edge is the standpipe outlet basin or Sanitas' wash basin." 

381 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



After a description of the basin he continues : "It is thus 
seen that the great desideratum, that the fixture should act 
as a flush tank for its waste pipe and trap, is here accom- 
plished," etc. 

Fig. 344 shows one of the earliest forms of the Sanitas 

Lift 

There are a number of better basins than this on the 
market today, and Mr. Gerhard would probably now be 
unable to give this one such high recommendation. Since 
the year he wrote, many other basins have been built with 




Standpipe Overflow and Direct Outlet Basins. 

large outlets capable of performing the work of the flush 
tank and many in which all cesspool chambers have been 
avoided, as in the excellent types shown in Figs. 317 to 326, 
inclusive, which in reality leave little to be desired in es- 
sentials. 

Fig. 345 shows a somewhat more complicated form of 
standpipe overflow basin which appeared later. It has a 
regular automatic flush pot discharge. 

The standpipe overflow type of basin has the disadvan- 
tage of presenting a certain amount of surface exposed to 
the washing water beyond what is absolutely necessary. 

A still further improvement is possible in which even 
greater simplicity is attained without sacrifice of any val- 
uable feature. Figs. 346 to 361 show a number of the 
writer's designs. The exterior surfaces of both the stand- 





Fi^. 346. 



Fig. 347. 



pipe and of its niche are done away with, while equal ac- 
cessibility of all parts is still preserved as in some of the 
types described. The standpipe overflow is simply molded 
in with the rear of the fixture as a fixed part of it and the 
discharge is effected not by lifting the standpipe but by 
operating a valve of proper construction within it. This 
valve should stand directly against the Outlet opening in 
the wall of the fixture, as shown in these figures, so 

383 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

that there be absolutely no unnecessary amount of surface 
in the interior of the fixture, and the whole valve as well 
as the interior of the overflow passage should be easily 
accessible for cleansing. 





Fig. 350. 




Fig-. 351. 



Fig". 352. 



384 



Standpipe Overflow and Direct Outlet Basins. 



The mechanism for controlling the valve should be simple 
and its operation self-explanatory to the user. 

Where the fixture is intended for use in public places 
the construction shown in Figs. 346 to 353 renders it im- 




Fig. 353. 

possible for anyone to remove and carry off the operating 
brass work. The drawings explain the manner in which 
this is done in this instance. 

For private houses the still simpler mechanism of Fig- 
ures 346 and 347 suffices. The ground plug is easily 
lifted out for cleaning the overflow passage. The end of 
the handle has a downward curve which suggests and aids 
in slightly lifting it for easier turning, and the movement 






Tig*. 


n 9 2. 


FigS. 


Fig. 356. 


Fig. 357. 
385 


Fig. 358. 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

is so easy that a light touch of the finger is sufficient to 
open or shut the outlet. 




Fig. 359. Fig. 360. Fig. 361. 

It is better to construct the entire fixture of hard earthen- 
ware or enameled iron and in one piece, as is now custom- 
ary, because the whole fixture is stronger, easier to sup- 
port, cheaper and better than the comparatively old-fash- 
ioned combination of earthenware and marble put to- 
gether with plaster and supported on metallic legs or 
brackets. The use of the enameled iron construction for 
the entire future and its outlet passages insures safety 
against a possible fracture of the material of the outlet by 
a sudden expansion of the metallic waste valve work 
when very hot water is used. This is a consideration of 
importance. 

All that is needed to support the fixture is a few screws 
driven into the bathroom wall through holes in the back of 
the fixture, no special legs or brackets being required. Fig. 
363 shows the section of the outlet mechanism for a fix- 
ture so constructed. 

Figs 356 to 361 give other simple forms of the writer's 
valve outlet basins, illustrating the principle of a valve 
operating directly at the basin outlet by a very simple 
mechanism which sufficiently explains itself. 

THE SECURITAS BASIN. 
Figures 362 to 365 illustrate the writer's latest improve- 
ment in basins' to which he has given the name "Securitas,"- 
for the reason that it provides, in the simplest manner, abso- 

386 



Standpipe Overflow and Direct Outlet Basins. 



lute sanitary security against contamination of the clean 
water by any concealed or inaccessible parts, and at the same 
time by virtue of having no projections, recesses, irregular- 
ities or roughnesses in any part of its contour, it provides 
entire security against inconvenience or mechanical injury in 
use. 




Fig. 362. 



Fig. 363. 



The peculiarly simple working parts being constructed 
almost entirely of white enameled iron there is nothing to 
require refinishing and nothing of intrinsic value to tempt 
the honesty of thieves or vandals in public places. There- 
fore virtue is promoted as well as comfort and art. 

The shining white surface of the operating mechanism 

387 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



harmonizes with the color and texture of the fixture itselt 
and presents with it a very attractive appearance. When 
the same white enamel is used also in the trap as shown in 
Fig. 365 the effect is still more striking and attractive. The 
whole outfit has then always, after any length of usage, the 




Fig:. 364 



same perfectly clean and bright appearance as it had the 
day it was first installed. 

Figs. 364, 365 and 366 give perspective views of the 
device, and Figs. 362 and 363 sections showing details pi 
its Waste Outlet Mechanism. The movable standpipe over- 
flow and its niche are done away with, and a single over- 
flow and outlet passage, easily accessible and convenient 
for cleansing without presenting any fouling surface to 
the clean water, takes its place. 

The interior of the basin is entirely unobstructed, no 

388 



Standpipe Overflow and Direct Outlet Basins. 

brass work or projection of any kind being in the way of 
the user. 

The valve stem, also of enameled iron, is made adjustable 
as shown, and is operated by a simple enameled iron lifting 
device sufficiently explained by the drawings. The handle 
consists of a small sphere connected by a yoke with a lever 




Fig. 365. 



within a larger sphere, and the lever directly actuates the 
valve in the manner shown. The weight of the handle and 
its leverage aid the weight of the valve and its stem in forc- 

389 




I 
















Pig. 365a. "Securitas" Wash Basin and White Enameled Trap. Re- 
arranged from Catalog by Courtesy of Federal -Huber Co., N. Y. 

390 



Standpipe Overflow and Direct Outlet Basins. 

ing the soft valve packing tightly against its sect. When 
open the handle stands at the dead point directly above its 
pivot in line with the valve so that the valve cannot acci- 
dentally close, and yet a touch in the right direction is all 
that is necessary to cause it to close automatically and noise- 
lessly. The form immediately suggests the correct method 
of operation, so that a course of lessons in handling is not 
required. 

The valve packing consists of a simple soft rubber ring 
sprung around the valve in a groove provided for it. The 
whole mechanism provides the maximum of strength and 
convenience with the minimum of expense and complication. 

The operating mechanism is easily removed for cleansing 
the outlet chamber by simply lifting it up against the slight 
pressure of the four small springs in their slots. It is re- 
placed by a corresponding reversed pressure. The springs 
are strong enough to prevent all rattle in use, but afford but 
very feeble resistance to removal, a slight side pressure re- 
moving two of the springs at a time. This method of re- 
moval might be too easy were the parts constructed of brass 
or other metal of intrinsic value for the reason already given. 

But with enameled iron having no selling or pawning 
value, there is no object in requiring a complicated or incon- 
venient method of taking apart. Hence the economy of the 
device provides a special feature of convenience to the user 
beyond its usual advantage to the pocket. 

The valve is guided to its seat by the two small sidehorns 
cast on its outer rim engaging in corresponding side grooves 
molded in the pottery as shown. 

In virtue of this arrangement the valve cannot possibly be 
inserted in any other than its right place, and the whole 
device becomes automatic and fool proof. The stem having 
been once adjusted by the manufacturer or plumber to the 

391 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

depth of the basin, there is nothing further to be done by 
anybody, no screws, or nuts to be removed or replaced in 
usage or cleaning, no rods or levers to be manipulated, and 
no standpipe, stopper, chain, or other obstruction to try 
the user's patience. The overflow passage is made large 
enough to admit the hand for easy and thorough cleaning. 
Thus all the requirements mentioned as necessary to pro- 
duce our ideal basin seem herein to be fulfilled. 



Ti g .365b. 



Fig. 365c 



Tig. 365,1. 




392 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



Kitchen Pantry Sinks and Baths. 




Of all plumbing fixtures 
none are more dependent 
upon a proper form of 
discharge than those into 
which grease and organic 
refuse coming from dish 
washing are brought. No- 
where is the application of 
the principle of the flush 
tank more needed than here, 
because in no other manner 
than by thorough intermit- 
tent flushing can the greasy 
matters passing through 
them be disposed of without 
rapid clogging of the waste 
pipes. To remove these matters from the dishes used in 
cooking and serving food hot water is necessary, and this 
liquefies the grease. If the volume of water into which this 
melted grease is led is not sufficient to partially congeal it 
and carry it through the waste pipes with a powerful rush, 
it will congeal upon and putrefy in these pipes until a seri- 
ous nuisance is formed. In ordinary sinks in general use, 
the melted grease dribbles through the sink strainer and 
chills upon the inside of the waste pipe and in the mouth 
of the vent pipe and all other corners of the trap before it 
has traveled a rod from the sink. In chilling, it forms a 
coating in these places so hard that it is subsequently often 
very difficult to remove, and soon causes annoying stop- 



Fig. .°>06. An Ancient Painting of 
a Roman Bath, from Joly. 



393 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



pages. The obstructions can sometimes, but not always, 
be removed by pouring a hot solution of potash into the 
pipes until the grease dissolves and becomes converted into 
soap. 

When proper cleanout caps have been arranged in the 
sink waste pipes, an obstruction can sometimes be reached 
and scraped out by proper tools ; but such opportune open- 
ings are seldom found when and where needed, and the 
removal of this putrid matter is, at best, so exceedingly of- 
fensive and unwholesome an operation that it is usually de- 
ferred so long as possible, and the foul putrefaction goes on 
in the waste pipes out of sight. 




Fig. 366a. Col. Waring's Flush-pot Sink. 

The late Col. Waring was, I believe, the first to call at- 
tention to the need of constructing sinks on the principle of 
a powerful flushng tank, and he invented a sink which I 
have reproduced in section in Fig. 366a. It consists of a 
large flush pot which can be attached to a sink of any kind. 
Col. Waring describes it as follows: "The flush pot is an 
entirely new departure. It holds back everything, water 
and all, until it is filled. The pot under the sink holds six or 
seven gallons. Its contents are then discharged — the whole 

394 



Kitchen Pantry Sinks and Baths. 

volume suddenly — with such scouring force as to prevent 
adhesion to the walls of the waste pipe. It is entirely simple 
in its construction and needs no special thought. When the 
water ceases to run from the sink, the cook knows that she 
must lift the plug of the flush pot. The strainer may easily 
be removed at will. The whole interior, then exposed to 
view, is within easy reach of a cloth, so that it may be kept 
as clean as a soup kettle. We thus secure the entire removal 
of the whole of this greatest source of foul decomposition 
before its putrefaction begins. In discharging the flush pot, 
the handle should be raised only until the stop strikes the 
lower side of the strainer. The strainer should not be re- 
moved except for cleansing. It should never be removed 
while refuse of any kind is in the sink." 

Unfortunately the average cook is neither a philosopher 
nor a sanitarian, nor does she disturb herself about the dis- 
tinction between the friendly bacteria of decomposition and 
the criminal classes of putrefaction, and she does not care 
about the bacteriological and chemical constitution of the air 
of sewers. Consequently she is too apt to forget all about 
operating the outlet plug, and there have been instances 
where this has led to a disastrous overflow of dirty water 
over the floor, and to a simultaneous outburst of language of 
similar complexion from the irate cook, followed by an un- 
ceremonious discharge by her of the Colonel's offending plug 
and its consignment for good and all to the demnition bow- 
wows. She also takes this occasion to eulogize unconscious- 
ly the famous sanitary engineer and author of this device 
as she wonders how anyone could ever have been such a 
fool as to plug up a sink outlet, which of all places should 
be left wide open for the "instant and complete removal of 
waste matters into the drains as soon as they are formed," 
and to add insult to injury she lifts out the Colonel's strainer 
and brushes into the capacious flush pot all solid matters 

395 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

too coarse to pass through the strainer, seeing that the flush 
pot outlet has been kindly made large enough to save her 
all the trouble of removing them from the sink by hand. 

The sink shown on Figs. 366b and 366c is one devised by 
Mr. Gerhard. It is divided by a perforated partition wall 
forming a strainer into two parts, a shallow and a deep part. 



V,VrrVrV,VryrrrVrVrVrVS 



ahclch of A 
^loupdupg Ovef-low fyfcljei? 

flus^c] A.ppc-»f-<3.lus. 




Fig. 366b. 



, 




poooooooa 
1O000O0001 

pOOO OOOOQ 

,Oo» 00 o, 
boooooooo 

'OOoOOOOO' 

booo 00000 




;p»*> 




/ 





Fig. 366c. 

The shallow part is used in the same manner as an ordinary 
sink. When the deep part is filled to the overflow line of 
the standpipe it can be discharged as a flush pot by lifting 
the standpipe. This part of the sink serves the further use- 
ful purpose of enabling dishes, pots, etc., too large for con- 
venient handling in the shallow dish to be effectively washed 
in the deep body of water furnished by the flush pot. 



396 



Kitchen Pantry Sinks and Baths. 

The chief difficulty in the mechanism of each of these 
devices is that they are not automatic in action and the 
users will not take the trouble required to operate them 
properly. They will not hold up the plug or standpipe 
while the water is escaping. There is too much work to be 
done elsewhere, and it is too easy to simply remove the plug 
or standpipe and let the water take care of itself. We must 
recognize this creditable desire of cooks and pantry maids 




Fig. 366d. First Automatic Flushing Sink. 



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ooocceoeee 


© 


© 


e e e «*o o e © e o 


© 


c 


oeeeeccoeee 


« 


_ « e o o e e e e 
t e • • O e e o • 


© 


© 


c 





oeoeceeco© 


o 


o 


6oee©«e»ee 


© 


© 


©oo©o©©©©© 


© 


t> 


eoooeooeea 


o 


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Ooeeoooe © « o 


-; 



Fig. 366e. Plan of the Automatic Sink. 

to be always on the active rush and make the mechanism of 
our flush pot absolutely automatic if we wish it to become 
popular and practical. 

Figs. 366d to ^66i represent in perspective, section and 
plan the writer's first device for complete automatic opera- 
tion. It has been assumed at the outset as an indispensable 
condition in the design of the apparatus that absolutely 



597 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



nothing should be dependent upon the intelligence and care 
of the servant, and that by no possibility could the waste 
passages become clogged, either by accident or by design. 
In short, that the operation should be entirely automatic, 
and that the form of the outlet should be such that no solid 
refuse could possibly gain access to it. 




Fig. 366f. Section of Automatic Sink. 

It consists of the combination of a square flush pot with 
an ordinary kitchen sink, in such a manner as to provide a 
sink of the ordinary appearance and form above, but hav- 
ing a deep portion or flush pot at the end, with an auto- 
matic discharge. 

An upper or horizontal strainer covers the entire flush 
pot and is hinged to one end of the sink, so that it may 
be opened when it is desired to use the deep part of the 

398 



Kitchen Pantry Sinks and Baths. 

sink. The sink is discharged by means of a self-acting 
siphon, and a vertical strainer is interposed between the 
flush pot and its siphon. The short arm of the siphon is 
trapped with a seal-retaining trap just behind the vertical 
strainer. This strainer slides upwards in a groove to give 
access to the trap when desired, but closes again automat- 
ically by its own weight as soon as released. Clean-out 
openings are provided at the trap and weir chamber, and 
gives access to every part of the waste system. No bones 
and solid refuse can be scraped into the discharge outlet 
and dropped into the waste pipe, because this pipe ascends 
instead of descends at the outlet ; and should the trap be 
clogged, it will simply cause the water to cease to flow 
out until the obstruction is removed, which can easily be 
done by simply raising the lower strainer and lifting out 
the obstruction by hand. 

The operation of the sink and flush pot is as follows: 
The sink is used in the ordinary manner until the flush 
pot fills to the height of the siphon overflow. When this 
point has been reached, the next discharge of a quart or 
two of water suddenly emptied from the washing pan 
charges the siphon and causes the entire contents of the 
flush pot to rush out through the waste passages, filling 
them full bore, and scouring them from end to end. The 
solid matter and large lumps of grease will be left on the 
bottom of the flush pot, and must be removed by the serv- 
ant in the proper manner, inasmuch as they cannot pos- 
sibly be removed in any other way. 

Thus the great annoyances, expenses and dangers aris- 
ing from the discharge of sink refuse are avoided. The 
additional cost of the actual flushing apparatus, over that 
of an ordinary kitchen sink is trifling. But the sink con- 
tains its own trap. The trap is also anti-siphonic, and 
hence requires no back venting. 

399 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

The deep portion of the sink may be conveniently used 
for washing large kitchen utensils which require deeper 
water than is to be had in ordinary sinks. 

Figs. 366h and 366i show the writer's recent improve- 




Fig. 366g. Section of "Securitas Sink. 




Trap 366h. Section of "Securitas" Sink. 



ments on this sink, to which he has given the name "Se- 
curitas" to distinguish it from the old "Sanitas" design. 
The advantages are greater simplicity and economy and a 
much better appearance. The trap is a simple return bend, 

400 



Kitchen Pantry Sinks and Baths. 

which with the flush pot as a reservoir chamber and the 
long upcast limb is anti-siphonic. Back pressure is, as we 
have shown, to be expected in basements, and not siphon- 
age. The flush pot renders back pressure entirely harm- 
less, as is evident. 

The weir chamber is placed preferably under the trap 
and the whole flush pot attachment thus becomes compact 
enough to be cast in a single piece. The outlet is enlarged 
at the strainer to give more room for the water to escape, 
and the strainer is hinged to the bottom so that it closes 
automatically and cannot be removed by the cook. This 
form of trap and strainer is much easier to clean than the 
old form of bottle trap originally used, and it does away 
with the need of a clean-out screw under the trap. Fig. 
366g shows a form having the weir chamber facing to the 
left instead of under the trap. This gives room for a trap 
clean-out should it be preferred. 




Fig. 366i. Perspective of Securitas Sink. 



Baths. 

Fig. 366 from Joly represents in the ancient baths al- 
most all the operations practised in the public baths after 



401 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the exercises of the gymnasium, namely, rubbing with the 
flesh brush, massage, nerve adjustment or manipulation and 
douche bathing. These processes, imitated in the East, are 
similar to our Turkish baths. 

Japanese Baths. 

Prof. Morse compares the bathing facilities of the Jap- 
anese with ours. Whereas with us ample bathing facilities 
are confined to a comparatively few rich people, in Japan 
"nearly every house among the higher and middle classes 
possesses the most ample arrangements for hot baths; and 




Fig. 366j. 



Bath-Tub with outside Heating Chamber. 
"Japanese Homes." 



From Morse's 



even among the poorer classes, in the country as well as 
in the city, this convenience is not wanting, with the added 
convenience of public baths everywhere attainable if de- 
sired." 

Fig. 366J shows a common form of Japanese bath tub 
with arrangement for heating the water attached to it. 
This stove consists of a small wooden water barrel hav- 
ing a copper smoke flue passing through it in which char- 
coal is burned. The water passes through a large bamboo 
tube having a little square door within the tub which the 
bather may close if the water becomes too hot. "These 
tubs," says Prof. Morse, "stand on a large wooden floor, 

402 



Kitchen Pantry Sinks and Baths. 

the planks of which incline to a central gutter. Here the 
bather scrubs himself with a separate bucket of water, after 
having literally parboiled himself in water the temperature 
of which is so great that it is impossible for a foreigner 
to endure it." 

Sometimes the bottom half of the bath tub is made of 
iron, as in Fig. 366k, and the fire is then built directly be- 





Fig. 366k 



Fig. 3661 




Fig. 366m. Rath-Tub with Inside Flue. 

neath it, the bather standing upon a rack of wood to pro- 
tect his feet from burning. "This tub is called a Goyemon 
buro, named after Ishikawa Goyemon — a famous robber 
of Taiko's time, who was treated to a bath in boiling oil." 
In Fig. 366m a copper tube forming the smoke pipe 
passes directly through the bottom of the tub. The bottom 
of the tub forms the fireplace, a simple wire grating sup- 
porting the charcoal, the combustion of which rapidly heats 



403 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the water. A shallow pan below the grating forms the 
ash pit. 

In Fig. 366nthe bath tub is in two sections, separated by 
a perforated partition of the room, the heating apparatus 
being on the further side of the partition. 

The bath tub, like all other plumbing fixtures, should 
have as little woodwork as possible about it. 

The first tubs made in modern plumbing work consistea 
of a wooden box lined with lead, some of which exist to- 
day. The lead cannot be polished clean and therefore al- 
ways presents an uninviting appearance. The metal is also 
so soft that it cannot retain a smooth surface. Next came 



Fig. 366n. Bath-Tub in Section, the heating oven being outside the 
Room. From Morse. 



the zinc tub, which could be kept cleaner and cost less 
than lead, but is not so durable. It is never now used 
except in the cheapest kind of work. The copper tub suc- 
ceeded the zinc, the metal being from 12 to 20 ounces per 
foot in weight and forming a lining to a wooden frame. 
This copper tub, heavily coated with tin, has enjoyed pop- 
ularity in the best houses until the advent of the porcelain 
tub, when it was found that the appearance of copper, 
especially when the tin plating became partly worn off, 
was quite unendurable in appearance, and quite too easily 
dented to remain fashionable, and it was required to take 
a secondary place in favor of the Royal Porcelain all earth- 

404 



Kitchen Pantry Sinks and Baths. 

enware, or porcelain-lined tub with its snowy whiteness 
and its icy coldness to the touch until well warmed up by 
hot water. Cast iron tubs, plain, painted and galvanized, 
appeared before the porcelain-lined iron, but had only a 
short career of usefulness, the paint and galvanizing soon 
wearing off and leaving a very dirty, rusty article, much 
despised by all but the poor and unfortunate. 

Cast iron enameled tubs are now so well made that the 
porcelain lining adheres firmly to the iron and makes a 
very beautiful and durable finish. It is not so durable, 
however, as the all crockery tub which, once paid for and 
properly set, will last as long as the foundations of the 
house will support its weight. The solid crockery is even 
colder to the touch than the enameled iron, but it forms 
a very beautiful though exceedingly heavy and expensive 
fixture nevertheless. 

A very good form of tub, recently introduced, is made 
of copper-lined sheet steel with cast iron supports of orna- 
mental design and polished wooden rim. This is an open 
fixture, light and easy to handle, .and has much about it 
to commend. Similar in construction to the sheet steel tub 
is one made of a very heavy sheet copper. It has the ad- 
vantage of being entirely rust-proof and quickly warmed, 
but does not present the inviting appearance of the por- 
celain surface. 

Fig. 368 shows a "needle" bath standing free in the 
corner of a bathroom having marble or tiled sunken or 
dished floor. Jets are arranged on all sides as well as 
above and below. These shower baths are supplied with 
hot and cold water and mixing devices so that the tem- 
perature required for comfort as well as health or medical 
benefit can quickly be attained. 

Fig. 369 shows in section the construction of a slow- 
closing faucet devised by the writer to measure and econ- 

405 




406 



Kitchen Pantry Sinks and Baths. 

omize water. No packing is required around the valve 
stem. The valve closes with the pressure, instead of in the 
usual manner, against it. Hence a comparatively flexible 
spring is used ; and in virtue of this and of the peculiar 



liM 1 !!! 




Fig. 368. Needle Bath. 

construction of the handle it is easily operated, and the 
spring being never under heavy tension when the faucet is 
closed, wear is minimized. When the valve closes against 
the pressure evidently very powerful springs have to be 

407 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




///////^wva 



\m2ZBZZZZZZZZZBBBZ 



7ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ2. 





Figs. 369 and 369a. 

Section and Perspective 

iew of the Writer's 

Slow Closing 

Faucet. 



used, difficult to operate, and constantly deteriorating under 
the permanent strain to which they are subjected. More- 
over, with ordinary faucets the strength of the spring must 



408 



Kitchen Pantry Sinks and Baths. 

evidently be greater than the heaviest water pressure ever 
likely to be used on the faucet valve, so that a considerable 
waste of power is necessary ; and, since the life of the spring 
is gradually exhausted with age, and the pressure is liable 
to be varied in the water mains, either permanently or 
temporarily, the faucet is soon liable to leak. Moreover, 
the wearing of the packing required around the valve stem 
of ordinary faucets is a constant source of leakage and 
annoyance. In using them it is necessary not only to 
exert a considerable strain of the fingers in overcoming 
the pressure of the heavy spring, but to sustain the strain 
during the whole time the water is running. This proves 
to be so very inconvenient (especially when, with hot-water 
faucets, the handle becomes so hot as to burn the fingers) 
that all kinds of devices are resorted to to tie the handle 
down, and thus the whole object of the device, for insuring 
against water waste, is frustrated. When the handle is 
suddenly released, a severe shock is sustained by the recoil 
of the spring, which injures and sometimes bursts the water 
pipes. 

This faucet is designed to do away with these difficulties. 
A slight touch of the handle, with instant release, is suf- 
ficient, with the exercise of very little power, to draw any 
desired amount of water, from a quart to a couple of 
gallons, from this faucet. The handle is in the form of a 
lever and moves forward in an arc in the direction of 
the nozzle. Drawing the handle down through the com- 
plete quarter circle opens the valve completely and gives 
the whole amount of water for which the faucet is orig- 
inally adjusted when set. Turning the handle through a 
half or a quarter of this arc gives correspondingly a half 
or a quarter of this amount of water, and thus a very 
great saving of water is effected, an advantage which the 

409 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

metered-house owner and the water companies greatly ap- 
preciate. 

Moreover, the user is enabled to make use of the water 
while it is running, and thus avoid the annoying waste of 
time necessary with other self-closing faucets in holding 
the handle down. 

A small adjusting screw is provided at the bottom of the 
chamber under the spring, by means of which the quantity 
of water to be delivered at each full opening of the handle 
is regulated when the faucet is set. It is best to regulate 
the amount by the capacity of the basin it serves, up to the 
overflow point. This faucet closes slowly automatically, 
and cannot hammer under the heaviest pressure ever used. 
Hence there is no possible danger of swelling or bursting 
of pipes through its use. 

The spring chamber is closed by a floating valve, which 
opens when the water is turned off of the house; and all 
parts of the faucet are then drained off, rendering damage 
by frost impossible. 

Instead of packing around the valve stem, the principle 
of water suction is employed in this faucet to make tight. 
The closing of the faucet is slow, direct and soft, and 
does not come to its seat with the turning or grinding 
movement which ordinarily cuts away washers at the seat. 

The difficulty, however, with this device, in common 
with all hydraulic devices depending upon close-fitting 
plungers for their operation, is a liability to stick in gritty 
waters. Hence they should only be used where the water 
supply is pure or well filtered, as is now not uncommon, 
and as indeed always should be the case everywhere. 



410 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



Public Baths. 



In England, during 
the Middle Ages, bath- 
ing the hands in public 
sight in the banquet hall 
was the fashion. When 
the tables at their great 
feasts were spread, at- 
tendants entered the hall 
with basins, ewers and 
napkins and carried them 
round to the company, 
who washed their hands 
before they sat down to 
dinner. Sometimes the 
guests were summoned 
to wash, however, in the 
lavatory before meals by 
the blast of trumpets. 
The ewers and basins 
were often made of gold 
and silver beautifully embossed with jewels and enameled 
with coats of arms, sometimes costing several hundred dol- 
lars each. But during the feast the company would throw 
bones and other refuse from their plates upon the floor, 
which the dogs looked for as their accustomed share. So 
that cleanliness at these interesting mediaeval feasts pre- 
sented a picturesque diversity of form, particularly as 




Fig\ 371. Mediaeval Bathing at 
Public Banquet. 



411 




412 




■S <a 
M 

=1 

v. a, 

££ 
E "2 



iil Li, 



2&Sfii ^i^ulii ;L Tlfejiifilalt 



413 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 





424 




lie 




416 




< T 

o 

. W) 






41 r , 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

fingers were used before the 14th century in place of spoons 
and forks. 

Fig. 372 is Viollet le Due's restoration of the famous 
baths of Caracalla. These contained magnificent swimming 
halls of cold, hot and tepid water. The picture shows the 
"frigidarium" or great cold water bath, which is the largest 
in the establishment. It is open to the sky under the prin- 
ciple that protection from rain is unnecessary for bathers 
in cold water in a climate like that of Rome. 

The warm bath, "tepidarium," seen in the view beyond 
the great arches, is roofed over, as is also the hot bath, 
"caldarium." 

Fig. 373 represents a Japanese public bath. 

Figs. 374 and 375 show a beautiful little German public 
bath from the Berlin "Skizzen Buch." The facades are 
treated with rich colors in Pompeian design. The plan 
shows the entrance terrace in front, reception rooms, one 
for ladies and the other for gentlemen, at the right and 
left of the entrance; a small buffet and dining room ad- 
joining the entrance, with connecting kitchen, a large square 
central swimming bath, and dressing rooms, and separate 
small bathing rooms for men and women, and a common 
piazza in the rear for use after the bath. 

Figs. 375 a and 375 B are from Jean Leon Gerome's famous paintings 
at the Paris Salon. From plates presented by the Standard Sanitary Mfg. 
Co. Fig. 375c is from E. J. Poynter's "When the World was Young." 



418 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Water Closets. 

Dr. John S. Billings re- 
fers* in the Popular Sci- 
ence Monthly of January, 
1889, to two old English 
pamphlets which contain 
the first description and 
illustrations of a water 
closet which had appeared 
since the days of old 
Rome. They were written 
in 1596 and described by 
their author as "A New 
Discourse of a Stale Sub- 
ject," and as an "Anat- 
omy" wherein is described 
"plainly, openly and dem- 
onstratively declared, ex- 
plained and eliquidated 
how unsavory places may 
be made sweet, noisome 
places made wholesome, filthy places made cleanly. Pub- 
lished for the common benefit of builders, housekeepers and 
house owners, by T. C, traveller, apprentise in poetry, prac- 
tiser in music," etc. The author, John Harrington, de- 
scribes his water closet, his picture of which we have re- 
produced in Fig. 376, in the following quaint but rather 




Fig. 376. Earliest Form of 
Water Closet Apparatus Since the 
days of Rome. (From the Popu- 
lar Science Monthly.) 



♦"House Drainage from Various Points of View." 
Science Monthly for January, 1S89. 

419 



Popular 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

unnecessarily strong language : "When I have found, not 
only in mine own poor confused cottage, but even in the 
goodliest and stateliest palaces of this realm, notwithstand- 
ing all our provisions of vaults, of sluices, of gates, of pains 
of poor folks in sweeping and scouring, yet still this same 
whoreson, saucy stink, I began to conceive such a malice 
against all the race of them that I vowed to be at deadly 
feud with them till I had brought some of the chiefest of 
them to utter confusion, and conferring some principles of 
philosophy I had read, and some conveyances of architec- 
ture I had seen, with some devices of others I had heard, 
and some practices of mine own I had paid for, I found out 
this way that is after described and a marvelous easy and 
cheap way it is, 

"Here is the same, all put together that the workman 
may see if it be well. A, the cistern ; b, the little washer 
therein ; c, the supply pipe ; d, the seat board ; e, the pipe 
that comes from the cistern; f, the screw (to start the 
flush) ; g, the scallop shell to cover it when it is shut 
down; H, the stool pot (or receiver); i, the stopple (or 
plug) ; k, the current (or flushing stream) ; 1, the sluice 
(or waste pipe); m, N, the vault into which it falls; 
always remember that the servant at noon and at night 
empty it, and leave it half a foot deep in fair water." 

Fig. 377 shows quite a different style of closet equally 
interesting and curious, but more decorative, though of 
considerably earlier date and not so sanitary. It is fairly 
illustrative of the somewhat pompous and pretentious 
Roman architecture with its curved throne-like back and 
royal carved lions' legs. It is now preserved in the Louvre 
in Paris. 

Fig. 378 shows the construction of latrines in the palace 
of Courcy, France, in the 13th century. They were ar- 
ranged in such a manner as to avoid odor and all other 

420 



Water Closets. 

inconvenience. They were built in the interior angle be- 
tween a tower and the main building in such a location that 
the waste matters were received in a rocky crevice in the 
forest surrounding the castle. The closet room adjoined 




Fig. 377. 

a passageway communicating with the chambers and the 
staircase. In the plan B is the main building, C the tower. 
From the wall of the former to that of the latter the wall 
B-D was built on corbels to mask the water closet seat E. 
At F is a urinal with its pipe shown in the elevation H at 
the spout below the small window G. I is a section look- 
ing toward the window and showing the seat and win- 

431 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

dow in elevation. Thus the closet room was quite open 
to the air both above and below, and secured perfect venti- 
lation. 



T T |! 1 iT ,! .^ ;i ' i !l :|, l !, |l|)|| 






■' 



VfM^T'^^ml 







L_^^i^^jlii|i! flte^i 




I 3 




Fig. 378. Latrines in the Palace of Courci, France. 13th Century.* 

The next Fig. 379 shows a closet in the castle of Lands- 
perg which still exists intact, and which like that at Courcy 



*From Viollet le Due's Dictionary of Architecture. 

422 



Water Closets. 

discharges directly into the open air. The seat is carried 
on a bracket projecting clear of the wall and is covered 
by the stone nichework shown in plan and perspective. 




Fig-. 379. Latrines in the Castie of Landsperg*.* 

The chateaux of the middle ages were also provided with 
large cesspools which were the subject of great care on 



From Viollet le Due's Dictionary of Architecture 

423 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

I LATRINES ) — 168 — 




Pig. 3 SO. Latrines in the Chateau de Marcoussis, France.* 

the part of the builders. They were vaults in stone and 
well ventilated, with doors for cleaning out. In castles 



From Viollet le Due's Dictionary of Architecture 

424 



Water Closets. 





hMttM 



m 





Fig. 381. Latrines in the Ca.stle of Pierrefonds, France.* 

designed to shelter large garrisons, there was always a 
separate tower or structure reserved for the latrines. Fig. 



From Viollet lo Due's Dictionary of Architecture 

425 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

380 shows the latrines of the chateau de Marcoussis in 
France, built in the 13th century, built in a narrow struc- 
ture opening upon a small court. Several closets (four 
in this case) were placed side by side on each story and 
were connected by long chutes with the cesspool shown at 
the bottom. The building was open freely to the air on 
one side from top to bottom, and on the opposite side was 
provided with a large window as shown. 

The next, Fig. 381, shows the latrines in the castle of 
Pierrefonds, built in the 15th century, to which a tower ad- 
joining the rooms of the garrison was entirely devoted. A 
is a plan at the level of the ground and of the cesspool. 
C is the clean-out door. D a ventilator. E is a stone plat- 
form in the centre of the cesspool to facilitate emptying. 
B is a plan of the first floor. F is a passageway leading 
from the chamber G to the closet room H, which has a 
suite of four latrines at I, and the chute L, which serves 
the latrines in the stories above. The passageways F, con- 
necting the various rooms with the latrines were provided 
with doors at both ends and were well ventilated, as were 
also the latrines themselves, which, moreover, were easily 
emptied from time to time ; and thus these mediaeval 
arrangements were really very much better than the miser- 
able structures with their abominable cesspools which serve 
us in the average country towns of the present day. 

Violet le Due, in giving us these descriptions of the lat- 
rines of mediaeval castles, warns his readers against the 
stories about "oubliettes," with which the modern guide 
beguiles amateurs in their visits to these feudal ruins, de- 
scribing how the cruel lords designed them as places from 
which they hustled their unsuspecting enemies into the 
abyss below. Nineteen times out of twenty, he says, these 
"oubliettes," the descriptions of whose horrors so strongly 

426 



Water Closets. 

move the visitor, are nothing more than very common place 
latrines, just as many of the chambers of torture pointed 
out by the guides are nothing but ordinary kitchens. 

Classification of Requirements. 

The ideal water-closet should possess the following char- 
acteristics relating to: (i) the method of Hushing; (2) 
the form; (3) the material; (4) the construction, includ- 
ing methods of connecting with soil and supply pipes, and 
provisions for ventilation; (5) the cost; and (6) the ap- 
pearance. 

(1.) The Flushing. 

(a) Should be so contrived as to thoroughly remove all 
waste matter immediately and carry it completely into the 
waste-pipe. 

(b) Should pass through the closet rapidly and concen- 
trated in a mass or large volume so as to act powerfully in 
flushing the closet and drains. 

(c) Should thoroughly scour all parts of the closet and 
trap. 

(d) Should act noiselessly. 

(e) Should be effected by a single simple movement, 
and require the minimum of strength or effort. 

(f) Should be effected without spattering. 

(g) Should do the work with the minimum of water. 

(2.) The Form. 

(a) Should be as simple as possible, and the extent of 
surface to be flushed as small as possible to facilitate the 
scouring, and there should be no surface, angle, or corner 
which does not receive the scouring. 

(b) Should be compact, allowing the closet to be put in 
the smallest possible space. 

427 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

(c) The level of the standing water in the bowl should 
not be over six inches below the top of the closet bowl. 

(d) The sides of the bowl above the water level should 
be substantially perpendicular. 

(e) The form of the bowl and trap should be such that 
the whole interior of the former and the deepest part of 
the latter may be visible and accessible from the outside. 

(f) The form of the closet should be such as to allow of 
its convenient use as a slop-hopper or urinal as well as a 
water closet. 

(g) The bowl should have in it a body of standing water 
of sufficient area and depth to receive and deodorize imme- 
diately all the waste matter it receives. 

(3.) The Material 
should be tough and durable, with a perfectly smooth sur- 
face, which cannot be injuriously affected by the waste mat- 
ters, changes of temperature, or any of the influences which 
are brought to bear upon it. 

(4.) The Construction. 

(a) Should be as simple as possible and have no pan, 
valve, gate, plunger or other obstructions to the water way. 

(b) Should be such that the water in the trap when 
properly connected up with other fixtures cannot be de- 
stroyed by evaporation, siphonage or suction. 

(c) The closet should be constructed strong enough to 
hold the seat without the aid of any external support. 

(d) It should require the minimum of labor in setting 
and permit of disconnecting with the minimum of effort. 

(e) It should provide for thorough local ventilation. 

(5.) The Cost 
of material, manufacture and setting should be at a mini- 
mum. 

428 



Pan Closets. 

* 

(6.) The Appearance, 
should be neat and ornamental, so as to require no casing 
or woodwork to conceal it. 

Water closets may be divided into four classes or types. 

I. Pan closets, II. Valve closets, III. Plunger closets, and 
IV. Hopper closets. 

The first three are mechanical seal closets and the last 
simple water seal closets. Nevertheless the first really de- 
pend solely on a water seal as well as the last, because their 
overflows are usually provided with a water trap in any 
case. The real use of the mechanical seals is not to form an 
extra security against the entrance of sewer-air, as is com- 
monly supposed, but to hold a certain amount of water in 
the bowl, so long as they can be kept water tight. 

The Pan Closet. 

By good rights this closet should have no place at all in 
our list, or anywhere else, because it possesses absolutely 
none of the good features to be sought for in closets ; but 
for this very reason as well as on account of the very ex- 
tended use it has had in the past and still has at the present 
day, no type could serve better for the purposes of illustra- 
tion and warning. 

Our cut, Fig. 382, shows the Pan closet on the right as 
arawn by Dr. Teale, with a deposit all around the interior 
of the receiver about an inch thick. This drawing shows 
also the Doctor's idea of a substitute, but this was recom- 
mended before the invention of Jet closets. The seal in the 
short hopper is shown not over a half an inch deep, showing 
that siphonage was but little known until within compara- 
tively recently. 

We will see by referring to our table of requirements 
for a perfect closet that this type (Fig. 383) violates every 

429 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



rule. The first rule refers to the manner of flushing. It is 
sometimes claimed that the pan closet has at least an advan- 
tage under this head in that it requires less water for flush- 
ing than any other. It is difficult to understand how a 
thoughtful person can make such an error as this, and no 
better means of showing the need of a thorough flushing 




Fig. 382. Pan and Hopper Closets.* 

could possibly be found than by explaining the results of 
the lack of it as shown in the Pan closet. Hence I shall ask 
you to follow with me in imagination the course of the 
flushing streams through a Pan closet, provided your imagi- 
nation will consent to making this disagreeable trip into 
this Inferno of plumbing, and see what it actually does. 



*From Teale. 



430 



Pan Closets. 

The small quantity of water which descends when the 
pan is lifted only appears to flush the closet, but actually 
does nothing of the kind. It simply transfers the waste 
matters from the pan to the receiver below, where a part 
remains for an indefinite length of time, and undergoes 
putrefactive decomposition. Each subsequent flushing adds 
more or less to the deposit thus originated, until the entire 
surface of the closet below the pan becomes coated with 
a mass of filth which sometimes attains a thickness of an 




Fig. 383. The Pan Closet. 



inch or more, and cannot be removed without taking the 
closet to pieces and burning it off. In fact the flushing 
stream itself does not remove the waste matter from the 
receiver, but simply refills the pan after it has been tilted. 
Hence the power for flushing acquired by the fall of the 
water from the cistern to the closet is entirely lost. The 
work of ejecting the wastes from the receiver into the soil 
pipe must be accomplished, if at all, by the discharge above 
it of the contents of the pan, the mere trickling of the flush- 

431 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

ing stream over the edge of the pan, when it has been filled, 
having no effect whatever upon the matters previously 
dropped into the receiver and trap. Hence it rarely hap- 
pens that a single flushing is sufficient to carry the wastes 
into the soil pipe. A second tilting of the pan is necessary 
and often several are required, and the wastes must there- 
fore of necessity remain as long as the closet thereafter re- 
mains unused, and accordingly it is liable to give rise to 
putrefactive fermentation on every occasion when the toilet 
room is for any reason left unoccupied for any length of 
time, as may happen in unoccupied rooms or houses, under 
the conditions already enumerated in connection with the 
evaporation of trap seals. 

With the Pan closet, therefore, the formation of the 
parts is such that the immediate removal of the waste mat- 
ter into the soil pipe and the proper scouring of the closet 
and soil pipe is absolutely impossible, and it may therefore 
be said that the quantity of water required for the purpose 
is at a maximum. Sprinklers or flushing rims have been 
added to sprinkle the inner surface of the receiver at the 
same time with the upper flushing. The effect of this ad- 
dition is to complicate the machinery and heighten the cost 
of the closet and the consumption of water. The accumu- 
lations of filth are, by such an arrangement, delayed in 
those places which happen to receive the jet of water from 
the sprinkler, but hastened in others behind the ring, 
which the spray cannot reach. It does not reach the under 
surface of the pan and bowl, between which the wastes are 
sometimes caught and compressed out of sight by careless 
usage ; the upper surface of the receiver, and especially the 
surface of the sprinkling ring itself and the parts surround- 
ing it. These parts receive the spatterings from the dis- 
charge and the condensation of the gases and vapors of 

433 



Pan Closets. 

decomposition, and tend to become finally encased with a 
coating of filth which an ocean of Hushing water, so applied, 
could not remove. 

The surface of the receiver is sometimes coated with 
enamel to prevent the adhesion of wastes, but after a few 
years' use these surfaces become roughened by a fine de- 
posit, and the incrustation begins as before. The parts 
which receive the direct impact of the falling water resist 
longest, but inevitably succumb in the end. Porcelain and 
earthenware receivers have also been made, but the result 
is the same as with enameled iron. With no other type 
of closet are the evils of faulty construction so clearly illus- 
trated as with the Pan, and its one supreme virtue lies in 
its usefulness as a warning. It may be called the most 
shining example of the blackest faults in plumbing appa- 
ratus. 

The machinery of the Pan closet is most ingeniously de- 
vised for the production of a chorus of disagreeable noise, 
more or less energetic and appalling as the age of the closet 
increases, first comes the creak of the pan axle, then the 
rush and splash of the flushing stream descending from the 
cistern ; then a repetition of the pan machinery on a dif- 
ferent key as the rusty crank returns, and a report as the 
pan strikes the under side of the bowl, and the heavy bal- 
ance weight on the pull comes back to its bearing; and, 
finally, from the cistern above, a bold, defiant crowing sound 
occasioned by the rush of air back into the supply pipe, ap- 
parently terminates the undesirable concert, much to the 
disgust and confusion of the occupant. 

When the pan is tilted, the movement causes a spattering 
due to the resistance of the confined air in the receiver, 
which sometimes projects a small body of water high up 
into the air. 

433 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

The Form of the Pan closet is (a) complicated and bulky. 

(b) Its receiver occupies so much space below the bowl 
that there is no room for the trap above the floor. This is 
a most serious fault. The trap should never be buried out 
of sight and out of reach. Should it lose its water seal 
through evaporation, siphonage, or other cause, or become 
in any way defective, the loss cannot be seen, and poison- 
ous gases may make their way unobserved into the house. 

(c) In all Pan closets the bowl is too wide, and the sur- 
face of the standing water at its bottom too small and too 
far down below the seat. It is found that the lower the 
water stands in the bowl the greater the spattering occa- 
sioned by the falling wastes. This surface can safely be 
brought within six inches of the seat without inconvenience 
in the use of the closet, and this distance, where the flush- 
ing is effected properly, and without spattering, is the 
best. 

(d) The bowl should be narrower, and the sides should 
be more nearly perpendicular. A narrow bowl is, within 
reasonable limits, equally convenient whether used as a 
closet, urinal or slop hopper. In all these respects the Pan 
closet is, with the exception of the dry hoppers, the best 
example known of defective form. 

(e) No part of the trap, and but a very small part of 
the receiver, is visible from the outside. The accumulation 
of filth in these parts goes on without the knowledge of the 
owner, nor, if known, could it be reached and removed. 

(f) The presence of the pan renders the use of this 
closet as a slop hopper unsafe, because it causes spattering 
and overflowing when large quantities of slops are suddenly 
thrown into it. There should be no obstruction to the full 
outflow of the water. 

The Material or combination of materials used in the Pan 
closet forms another defective feature ; the iron rusts and 

434 



Pan Closets. 

the copper corrodes, and the whole apparatus, ugly as it is 
at its best when new, becomes truly monumental in its hid- 
eousness when rusted, browned and scarred with old age. 

The Construction. — (a) The pan, receiver, and all the 
machinery connected with them are unnecessary, because 
the waste can be better removed without them, and they 
form no additional security against the entrance of sewer- 
air. Until within a few years it was regarded as important 
to hide the trap and working parts of plumbing from view, 
under the assumption that they must necessarily retain at 
times waste matter offensive to the sight. Now, however, 
we have learned that with properly constructed fixtures all 
waste matters can be entirely and instantly removed after 
use, and that it is not only advantageous but necessary for 
perfect security that all parts should be visible to insure 
their proper use and cleanliness. 

Consequently we see that the pan and its bulky receiver 
are worse than superfluous since they require hiding, and 
that the labor and money thrown away upon these useless 
complications might be saved for improving and strength- 
ening useful parts. 

(b) There is nothing in the mechanism of the Pan closet 
to provide against the loss of its water seal through evap- 
oration or siphonage, though such a provision is possible. 
The loss of the water in the trap would remain undiscov- 
ered so long as the odor of the entering products of de- 
composition escaped observation, and it is known that the 
most dangerous of the carbon compounds of putrefaction 
are odorless. 

(c) There are two joints between the bowl and the trap 
where there should be none. 

The connection between the bowl and the receiver being, 
in the regulation Pan closet, made with putty alone, with- 

435 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

out bolts or screws of any kind, a slight shock will make 
a crack in this connection, and Pan closets are at any time 
liable to be rendered leaky at this joint. The crack being 
out of sight and above the water line, there is nothing to 
give warning of the entrance of foul air. This is one of 
the ways in which foul air may enter. 

The receiver, usually coated with filth, acts, in fact, as 
nothing more or less than a retort for the generation of 
foul gases which escape at numerous holes seemingly pro- 
vided for the purpose. 

Every time the pan is tilted, the water discharged into 
the receiver displaces a corresponding bulk of foal air, giv- 
ing a second way by which gases of decomposition are sure 
to enter. 

The brass pan journal passes through the receiver shell, 
leaving generally at the point of entrance a third passage 
for foul air. 

The joint between the receiver and trap is made in the 
usual Pan closet job, with putty alone. This joint naturally 
cracks in time through shrinkage, settling or jarring, leav- 
ing a fourth passage for dangerous emanations. 

The shell of the receiver is usually cast very thin, and 
the castings are seldom airtight before painting or enamel- 
ing. After several years' use. it is liable to become perfo- 
rated with an indefinite number of small holes, which give 
X additional chances for the entrance of impurities. 

The bowl and its connection with the receiver are not 
strong enough to form a support for the closet seat, and 
therefore this woodwork requires an independent frame for 
its support, in violation of our rule in this regard. 

(d) In setting the Pan closet the receiver is screwed into 
the floor over a flange made in the leaden trap, putty and 
paint being used for the joint. The trap has to be placed 

436 



Pan Closets. 

between the floor beams, and its connection with the soil 
must be made in a contracted space. The proper adjust- 
ment of the various parts of the closet and its connection 
with the cistern valve is more difficult, and requires more 
time on the part of the plumber than is necessary for the 
best sanitary water closets. 

The Cost of manufacture evidently depends upon the 
number, material and complexity of the parts, and the man- 
ner of putting them together. The Pan closet consists of 
nineteen different parts, not including bolts and nuts, or 
fifty-one pieces including, them. A perfect closet can be 
made of a single piece. 

To make these Pan closets with all their parts so that 
they shall yield a profit to the manufacturer, to the dealer, 
and to the plumber, when sold at the low price to which 
competition has reduced them, is only possible by reducing 
the weight and the quality of the materials and work- 
manship to the minimum. They are therefore usually of 
the most flimsy character. 

The Appearance. — The beauty of the Pan closet is not so 
great as to tempt the owner to omit the casing, and in fact 
the casing never is omitted, though a device so dangerous 
should always be exposed to full view in order that such 
defects as occur on the exterior may be discovered as 
soon as possible. But the outside machinery collects dust 
in every crevice which cannot be removed, and this has 
given rise in the French Pan closets to the custom of inclos- 
ing all the working parts within the body of the receiver, 
swelling it to an abnormal size for the purpose. Here it 
soon corrodes and becomes coated with filth like the rest of 
the interior in a very short time. 

In short, it is impossible to conceive of a device more 
ingeniously contrived than the Pan closet to embrace in a 

437 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

single feature as many hygienic vices ; and, under the out- 
ward effect of security, as many real dangers. 

Sanitary Engineers. 

Not very long ago I passed a small plumber's shop having 
a large show window. There was room enough in this win- 
dow to display a handsome and instructive system of sani- 
tary appliances, arranged in such a manner as to inspire the 
beholder with a sense of the wisdom and skill of the pro- 
prietor. The exhibit in this window, however, consisted 
of three huge pan water-closets in a row, extending from 
one side of the window to the other, with a few antiquated 
basin faucets, plugs and chains lying on the floor at their 
feet. The sign above read, "Sanitary Engineer." 

We deplore the ignorance of the public in insisting upon 
having such unsanitary fixtures ; but how can we expect 
anything better of them, so long as professors of hygiene 
themselves thus recommend them with triple emphasis and 
to the tol;al exclusion of what is really good? 

X. Y. Z., 

BUILDER, PLUMBER, PAINTER, 

GLAZIER, CARPENTER, 

RANGE AND STOVE MAKER, 

HOT WATER ENGINEER, 

Pump Maker and Sanitary Engineer. 
Water-Closets Fixed on the Newest Principles. 

WRITING, GRAINING, MARBLING. 
FOUNTAINS ERECTED. 

UNDERTAKER. 

Mr. Hellyer, in his "Sanitary Plumbing," gives us a copy 
of a plumber's sign in London, quite similar in effect to the 
one just described, for you see this man also called himself 
a "sanitarv engineer," in spite of the fact that he had placed 

438 



Water Closets. 

a pan closet and a D trap on one side of his business card 
and a combined water-closet tank and drinking water cistern 
on the other. 

In preparing this sign for our purpose I added the word 
"undertaker," knowing that one who claimed so much with 
so little equipment would be likely to have to bury his em- 
ployers as his final act of service in their behalf. 

As Mr. Hellyer wisely says, such signboards should rather 
be taken as "warning boards," in order that he who read- 
eth may run away. 



439 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



Valve and Plunger Closets. 




A few years 
ago, before the 
need of system- 
a t i c ventilation 
of the sewers 
and soil-pipe be- 
gan to be felt, 
and back pres- 
sure from the 
foul sewers 
forced the sew- 
er gas through 
the water seal of 
traps in bubbles, 
a tight - fitting 
valve or plunger was felt to be needed in water-closets, and 
as these closets were at first built without overflows, the 
valve or plunger did actually seem to perform a real service. 
Now, however, the circumstances are altered. It is found 
that an overflow is necessary in these closets, and this over- 
flow passage is rarely provided like the trap with a valve or 
other mechanical closure. Hence, any gases which could 
pass an ordinary water seal could pass through these closets 
by way of the overflow passage quite regardless of and quite 
as easily as if the valve or plunger in the trap never existed. 
Moreover, the ventilation of the sewer and soil pipes renders 
back pressure comparatively harmless, so that the only pos- 



Fig 



Valve Closet. 



440 



Valve and Plunger Closets. 

sible useful office of the valve or plunger is no longer called 
for. 

The same objections to the mechanical seals of water- 
closet traps which have been described for the smaller fix- 
ture traps hold with even greater force with water-closet 
traps. They cannot be made permanently tight and effect- 
ive. 

The only object of the valve or plunger, therefore, is to 
retain a certain quantity of water in the bowl to receive the 
waste matters, and prevent their striking the dry surface 
of the closet bowl, to which they would adhere, and as this 
result can now be accomplished equally well without them, 
and by simpler means, it is obvious that they are utterly 
superfluous. 

The efficiency of the large body of water suddenly emp- 
tied from the bowl for flushing out the water-closet and 
pipes forms a good point in these closets, but it is some- 
times partially negatived by the obstruction of the valve 
and plunger themselves when they are but slightly raised in 
use or defective through rust and sediment. But this func- 
tion is equally well performed by simpler and better means. 

The receiver or container of the valve and plunger is open 
to the same objections as that of the pan, differing only in 
degree, and the overflow passage, not required in the pan- 
closet, forms a second filth collector, and increases the com- 
plexity and cost of the apparatus. The sudden discharge of 
the larger body of water in the bowl is very liable to empty 
the trap below by its momentum and siphon action, requir- 
ing a special provision for its automatic refilling. 

These and other considerations have led sanitarians to 
differ as to the relative merits of the pan, valve and plunger 
closets when they were in vogue, though there seemed to be 
no sufficient reason for such difference. It is only important 

441 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

to analyze the types now because they illustrate forcibly 
various defects in plumbing appliances which should be 
strenuously avoided, and they are also interesting to some 
extent historically. 

The Valve Closet. 
Valve closets were those which have the outlet of the bowl 
closed by a movable valve or plate, usually held in place by 
a lever or spring. Fig. 385 represents a valve closet having 







/tecuucr 
Vent. 



Knt. 



Fig. 385. Valve Closet. 



the trap below the floor. Fig. 384, a valve closet with a ball 
in the overflow. These and the type in which the trap is 
placed above the floor, Fig. 386, have been considered among 
the simplest and best of their class. All others differ from 
these merely in slight and comparatively unimportant de- 
tails. Some valve closets were made without any water trap 
at all below the valve. These were totally unreliable because 
no valve has as yet been discovered which is not liable at 

443 



Valve and Plunger Closets. 

some time to leak, especially when used in water-closets. 
Beginning, as before, with 

The Flushing. 
We see, by examining the drawing, Fig. 385, that the cleans- 
ing effect of the stream could never reach those parts of 
the receiver which lie behind the valve and around its hinge, 
nor any part of the overflow passage. Hence, these parts 
were sure, sooner or later, to become foul, and they were ex- 
actly the parts in which foulness would impede the proper 
working of the valve and closet, and occasion leakage of the 




Fig. 386. Valve Closet. 

water from the bowl. The receivers of both the pan and 
the valve closets can be enameled and provided with special 
cleansing jets, and closets having these improvements have 
been manufactured, but the overflow passage cannot be so 
scoured, and I know of no closet in which the attempt to do 
so has been made. Finely divided waste dissolved in the 
water and making its way into the overflow passage, as it 
very frequently did, was bound soon to foul it, and once 
the deposit began it could not be arrested except by taking 
the closet to pieces. The extent of surface which cannot be 

443 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

reached by special scouring streams is, therefore, greater in 
the valve than in the pan closets, and this goes far to 
offset the advantage it has in the smallness of its receiver. 

(b) The valve, like the pan, breaks the force of the flush- 
ing stream from the cistern due to head and thus prevents 
its passing through the receiver and trap in a compact vol- 
ume, occasioning a total loss of the advantage the water 
head from the cistern might give and in the better types of 
closets does give. Here again the valve and pan closets are 
equally defective. 

(c) The same causes for the production of disagreeable 
noises in flushing exist in both kinds of closets. Most valve 
closets are superior in workmanship, as well as in price, to 
the pan closets, but so far as principles of construction are 
concerned, the valve closet has no superiority over the pan. 

(d) To operate the machinery of a valve closet requires 
more strength than is the case with the pan. It is indis- 
pensable that the valve press very firmly against its seat in 
order to retain and sustain the large body of water in the 
bowl above it, while no such pressure is evidently required 
in the pan. To overcome this greater pressure a greater 
effort is required, so that in this respect the valve closet is 
inferior to the pan. 

(e) In the matter of complication of arrangement for 
the simultaneous opening of the closet and cistern valves 
through levers, cranks and wires, the valve and pan closets 
are evidently equally defective. 

(f) When the water-closet is used as a slop hopper, and 
a large volume of water is suddenly emptied in the bowl 
the obstruction occasioned by the valve to the outflow of 
the water is likely to cause spattering, while the pan, on the 
contrary, though it forms an obstruction, allows the water 
to escape in a measure as it is poured in, and the danger of 

444 



Valve and Plunger Closets. 

spattering and overflowing is thereby somewhat diminished. 
The valve eloset overflow affords less of a security in this 
respect. Hence, here again the valve closet loses in com- 
parison with the pan. When, as often happens, the valve 
is suddenly closed at the moment the waste matters are pass- 
ing out, and catches these matters, it presses them against 
the valve-seat, whence they can never be removed by flush- 
ing, but remain to decompose until they are scraped off with 
great difficulty. The same objection holds with tiie pan 
closet, but such an obstruction on the valve causes it to 
leak, and as soon as the water has escaped from the bowl 
the odor of the adhering matters becomes intolerable. Thus 
once more superiority must be granted to the principle of 
the pan closet over the valve. 

The form of the valve closet is (a) complicated by the 
overflow not required in the pan closet. In other respects, 
the machinery of the closets is similar and all this complica- 
tion unnecessary in closets, (b) The trap and receiver are 
invisible and inaccessible from the outside, like those in the 
pan closet, (c) As is the case with the pan, there is noth- 
ing in the mechanism of the valve closet to provide against 
the loss of its water seal through evaporation, siphonage, 
etc. It has been proposed to ventilate the receiver with a 
special vent pipe to carry off the odors generated therein 
and protect the trap below from being unsealed by the mo- 
mentum of the water discharged by the valve. But a single 
pipe would not be sufficient, because an exhaust as well as a 
supply pipe would be necessary to create a movement or 
change of air, and this would add enormously to the ex- 
pense. Were there no receiver these two pipes would not 
be required, (e) The valve closet is equally defective with 
the pan in requiring a frame around the closet to protect it 
and receive the weight of the seat, (f) The valve mech- 

445 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

anism is more complicated in construction than the pan. It 
requires a very carefully turned seat and a rubber packing 
which is very perishable. Hence repairs are necessary even 
oftener than with an equally well made pan closet. 

The cost of manufacture is evidently considerably greater 
than that of the pan closet, on account of the overflow and 
of the principle of the valve, which requires both greater 
strength and delicacy of form and adjustment. It is corre- 
spondingly more liable to get out of order, and hence is 
more expensive to keep in repair. 

Deductions. 
Thus we find in the valve closet every defect of the pan 
and at the same time others which are peculiar to itself. 
Both have their hidden "chamber of horrors," which ex- 
hale noisome odors into the house at all times, and more 
particularly when their machinery is operated. The cess- 
pools become perpetual automatic gas retorts and defeat 
their own object of removing all organic decomposition im- 
mediately from the premises. 

The Plunger Closet. 

Plunger closets are those which have the outlet closed by 
a plunger or plug fitting over or into it, and held in place 
by its own weight. 

Figs. 387 to 391, inclusive, represent plunger closets hav- 
ing a solid plunger, the overflow passage being in the rear 
behind the plunger. 

Fig. 392 is a hollow plunger closet, the overflow being 
through the plunger itself. This is the simplest form of 
plunger closet, but it allows effluvium from matters which 
may be left floating in the trap to escape into the room 
through the plunger and around its handle. 

Figs. 389 and 390 show a plunger closet having its over- 

446 



Valve and Plunger Closets. 

flow trapped with a plunger or valve. It is the only plunger 
closet except the Jennings which has a mechanical seal for 
the overflow, and the only closet in which the overflow can- 
not be destroyed by siphonage. The complication arising 
from the mechanical trapping of the overflow and the enor- 
mous size of the receiver form serious objections to this 
form of closet. Were there no better and simpler mode, 
however, of preventing the action of siphoning in water- 




Plunger Closet. 



388. Plunger Closet. 



closets, it would stand high in spite of the inherent defects 
of its class. 

Figs. 389, 390 and 391 represent the class of plunger 
closets which has a chamber or cistern for the supply cock 
and regulating float connected with the plunger chamber. 
This form of closet is very objectionable. The float cham- 
ber becomes foul like the plunger chamber, and the two 
chambers together then form a species of cesspool even 
worse than that of the pan closet. 

The above may be considered types of all known plunger 
closets. Some are made without water traps under the 

447 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

plunger, but these, like trapless valve closets, are totally un- 
reliable. In regard to 

The Flushing. 
We find here a much larger extent of surface of receiver 
which never receives a scouring of water than in the valve 





Fig. 389. Plunger Closet. Fig. 390. Plunger Closet. 




Fig. 391. Plunger Closet. 



closet. The flushing stream passes under the plunger re- 
ceiver, and not through it, as it does through the valve re- 
ceiver. The plunger receiver must also from its nature be 
larger than that which is sufficient for the valve. 



448 



Valve and Plunger Closets. 

These two circumstances render it much more easily 
fouled. 

To operate the machinery of a plunger closet requires 
still more of an effort than is the case with the valve, be- 
cause the dead weight of the plunger has to be lifted direct 
without the aid of the leverage of the crank which is em- 
ployed with the valve. The weight of the plunger must be 
sufficient to retain the water in the bowl by its pressure 
against its seat. 

In all other respects the flushing of the plunger closet is 
attended with precisely the same defects as that of the valve 
closet. 

The same criticisms which are applicable to the valve 




Fig. 392. Plunger Closet. 

closet in relation to its form, material, construction and 
cost apply with equal force to the plunger closet, and the 
same 

Deductions 
may be made in its comparison with the common pan closet, 
i. e., it is superior to the ordinary flimsily made pan closet, 
but greatly inferior to its most improved and solid con- 
struction, and, in general, it is inferior to the pan closet in 
the principle of its construction and operation. 

449 



CHAPTER XXX. 




Ancient and Foreign Apparatus. 

Progress in all things 
— comes from studying and 
| profiting by the errors of 
the past. The reason why 
the water carriage system 
of sewage disposal is 
gradually supplanting the 
dry methods the world 
Fig. 393. Sanitary Conveni- over is because we have 

ences of the Malay Peninsula.* ^^ through bitter ex _ 

perience with cesspools and all other arrangements for re- 
tarding the removal of organic waste, that water carriage 
is the safest and best. But our progress has been slow be- 
cause we have too often despised the lessons of the past. 
Everywhere horrible cesspools still abound throughout the 
land to the peril of our people, because we are still, as a 
people, ignorant of their dangers, and the terrible scourges 
which their use in various forms has brought upon na- 
tions. 

One of the most useful things you, as sanitarians and 
plumbers, can do, both for yourselves and for the public, 
is to study the cause of these plagues which, especially in 
the Orient, have devastated the land, and with the equip- 
ment this study will provide, urge everywhere the substitu- 
tion of good plumbing for the dry carriage system, whether 
in the form of earth closets, cesspools, or pail systems. For 



*From "Latrines of the East." by Prof. Edw. S. Morse. 

450 



Ancient and Foreign Apparatus. 

this reason I shall review with you very briefly some of 
the earliest methods of waste disposal and call your attention 
to their effect upon the public health, in order that your 
advocacy of plumbing may be based upon a knowledge of 
the past. 

As the result of ignorance of the first principles of sani- 
tary science, "the Orient stands as a continual menace to 
the nations of Europe. The people are utterly ignorant 




Pig. 394. Ancient Egyptian Dwelling. 

of the germ theory of disease, and consequently the per- 
sistant violation of all sanitary laws follows as a matter 
of course." 

We find in Egypt, thousands of years before the Chris- 
tian era, according to Viollet le Due, privies built very much 
like our country cesspools, placed as shown in our next cut, 
Fig. 394,* which represents an Egyptian rural dwelling 



'From Viollet le Due' 



"Habitations of Man" 
451 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

under the first three dynasties. It consists of a central 
room open to the court, and two bed-chambers, one on each 
end, the garden being in front, with a pantry for provisions 
at one of the corners opposite the dwelling. The latrines 



n^f^ 







Fig. 395. Palace of a Governor of Ancient Egypt. 



were in the small building at the other corner of the garden, 
quite inconveniently distant from the living rooms, with 
dove cots and fowl house along the garden wall. The 
cooking was done in the open air. 



452 



Ancient and Foreign Apparatus. 

The palace of a governor or monarch is shown in Fig. 
395. The bed rooms are in the right and left of the main 
building on each side of the great pillared hall open to the 
sky. The kitchen is in the center of the right-hand court 
in the foreground, and the water tank in the court oppo- 
site. The servants' rooms in the two wings behind the 
kitchen and tank. 

The latrines are shown in the center of the building just 
behind the small colonnades at the right and left of the main 
building. Here again we find these conveniences very in- 
conveniently located with reference to the bed rooms, espe- 
cially those at the further end of the building. And I need 
not relate to you the visitation of the plagues of Egypt, 
known to every reader of history and the Bible. It was 
formerly said that these terrible scourges were brought upon 
the people by the wrath of the Lord, because of the harden- 
ing of the heart of Pharaoh against the children of Israel. 
But later investigations have led us to believe that the con- 
dition of the Egyptian cesspools had more to do with the 
plagues than either the wrath of the Lord or the obdurate 
heart of the king. Now the privies of our own farmers' 
houses in the first years of the twentieth century are no 
more scientifically treated and located than were those of 
ancient Egypt. So far, then, as our country towns are con- 
cerned, we have done worse than merely stand still for over 
5,000 years, because the climate of Egypt enabled the house 
owners to visit these out-of-door latrines far more com- 
fortably and safely than is possible with us. 

Fig. 396 shows one of the earliest water closets of which 
we have record. It is one described by Liger as used in 
ancient Rome. We see the two water closets in the corner, 
one of them having the seat removed to better show the con- 
struction. The flushing stream follows a course which 

'453 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

would seem to us quite uncomfortable in water closet con- 
struction. It passes along a trough in front of the closets, 
then enters and flushes a floor urinal at the right side of 




Fig. 396. One of the earliest forms of Roman Latrines.* 




Fig. 397. Fig. 398. 

Side and Front View of Marble Seat.* 



the water closet, and finally passes under the closets them- 
selves. This small stream is much more demonstrative 



than it would be effective in its circuitous course. Figs. 



♦From F. Liger, "Fosse d'Aisance," p. 53. 

454 



Ancient and Foreign Apparatus. 

397> 398 and $77 represent a curved marble of porphyry 
seat dating from the time of Constantine and preserved in 
the Louvre, Paris. 

We are again indebted to Prof. Morse for permission 
to reproduce a number of sketches from his "Latrines of 
the East,"* in which is portrayed a most important feature 
of Oriental life and character in the author's inimitable 
style. The sketches are his own. 

The Chinese dispose of their sewage, not by sewers, but 
by scavengers, street gutters and canals. "At Shanghai," 
says Prof. Morse, "as one enters the native town he en- 





Fig:. 399. 



Chinese Scavenger's 
Buckets. t 



Fig. 400. Chinese Earthen- 
ware Urinal. 



counters men bearing uncovered buckets upon the ends of 
a carrying stick ; these are removers of night soil, and they 
have their regular routes through the city. If one follows 
these scavengers he sees them going to the banks of a canal 
near by and emptying the buckets with a splash into a long 
scow, or other kind of boat, which, after being filled, is 
towed away to the rice fields in the country. The stuff is 
often spilled in the water by careless emptying. The canal 
has no current, at least not enough to disturb the great ooze 



t "Latrines of the East," by Edward S. Morse. 
The American Architect of March 18, 1893. 

455 



Reprinted from 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

and sickly yellow condition of the water, which is thick 
with foulness ; yet beside this boat people are dipping up 
the water for drinking and culinary purposes. Smallpox, 
at the time of my visit, was epidemic in the town, and I 
brushed past men in the narrow alleys who were covered 
with eruptions ; everywhere the ground was slimy with filth, 
and the state of the town was indescribable." Fig. 399 shows 
the large wooden buckets with close-fitting covers which 
were used in the better class of Chinese houses, and were 
emptied every day by a scavenger. They served the purpose 
of the pails in the English so-called "pail system" of sew- 
age disposal. These buckets ornamented the back yards of 
Chinese landlords as ash vessels do ours at home. 

In these back yards, also, are sometimes seen the most 
primitive possible kinds of open-air earth closets, composed 
of large earthen jars embedded in the ground, and against 
one edge a low framework of wood. Piles of ashes from 
the stoves are placed near by, and this is spread* with the 
material as in all earth closets. 

Square urinals made of stoneware are used, as shown in 
Fig. 400. "These," says the author, "are used by old people, 
and I was told that they also served as pillows or head 
rests." 

Fig. 401 shows one of the public latrines of Canton, the 
existence of which is always evident to the nostrils, owing 
to their very filthy condition. A urinal runs along in front 
of the stalls as shown, and the absence of any kind of 
water flush is largely responsible for their unsavory char- 
acter. 

Fig. 402 shows a Japanese dry closet, which are private 
and in striking contrast with the foul places of China and 
Corea, which are, as a rule, public. Below the rectangular 
floor opening is the receptacle in the form of a large earthen 

456 



Ancient and Foreign Apparatus. 

jar or half an oil barrel sunk in the ground, emptied every 
few days by men who pay for the privilege. The author 




Fig. 401. Public Latrines at Canton, China. 




Fig. 402. Japanese Dry Closet. 



was informed that the substance is so highly valued that 
in Hiroshima, in the renting of the poorer houses, if three 
persons occupied a room together its value paid for the rent 



457 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

of one, and if five occupied the room no rent was charged. 
"The result of the transference of this material into the 
country leaves the shores of a city absolutely pure. No 
malarious flats nor noisome odors, arising from littoral areas, 
curse the inhabitants, as with us." 

Fig. 403 shows the door of a closet in Tokio inlaid in 
designs in different colored woods, so exquisitely clean and 
beautiful that the place might properly be called, as the 




Fig. 403. Japanese Privy Door and Urinal. 

author says, a cabinet. "The urinal is usually of wood, 
though porcelain ones are often seen. The wooden ones 
are in the form of a tapering box secured against the wall 
of the closet. Sometimes sprays of a sweet-scented shrub 
are placed in these and often replaced/' ^ 

Fig. 404 gives a view of the exterior of one of these cabi- 
nets. It is in an inn at Hachi-ishi, near Nikko. The ap- 

458 



Ancient and Foreign Apparatus. 

proach is shown by the planking in the foreground with a 
pair of wooden clogs, which are often provided, to be worn 
in this place. "From this, at right angles, runs a narrow 




Pig:. 404. Japanese Privy. 



platform, having for its border the natural trunk of a tree ; 
the corner of a little cupboard is seen at the left, the ceiling 
is composed of netting made of thin strips of woods, and 



459 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

below is a dado of bamboo. The opening to the first apart- 
ment is framed by a twisted grape-vine, while other sticks 
in their natural condition make up the framework. Beyond 
the arched opening is another one closed by a swinging 
door; and this is usually the only place in the house where 
one finds a hinged door, except, perhaps, on the tall closet 
under the kitchen stairs. Outside a little screen fence is 
built, a few plants neatly trimmed below — and a typical 
privy of the better class is shown. The wooden trough 
standing on four legs and holding a bucket of water and a 
wash basin is evidently an addition for the convenience of 
foreign guests. The chodzu-bachi with towel rack sus- 
pended above, as already described, is the universal accom- 
paniment of this place." 

Fig. 393 shows a closed privy such as is seen on the 
Malay peninsula built over running water, somewhat re- 
moved from the house, and having a little bridge running 
to it. 

In China, Java, Sumatra, India, Russia, Greece, and in 
the Orient generally, the grossest negligence and ignorance 
prevails in the disposal of all forms of organic waste mat- 
ters, most shocking and disgusting to the traveler. But, 
after all, what can be more barbarous than our own coun- 
try cesspools, which are foul and pestilential beyond de- 
scription? Where they adjoin the houses their poisonous 
odors penetrate to the living rooms; where they are re- 
moved several yards, great exposure to the weather, very 
dangerous to the health, especially in winter, is involved in 
reaching them. 

The Massachusetts State Board of Health has said of 
them that "they are a disgrace to civilization," and "the 
march of civilization is in no way more correctly marked 
than by perfection in water closets. If to this rule a uni- 

460 



Ancient and Foreign Apparatus. 

versal application were given it would place our farmers, 
as well as the vast majority of our rural population, well 
back in the ranks of barbarism." 

For this we are far more to blame than the ignorant peo- 
ple of the East, because our libraries are full of literature 
on sewage disposal for cities, towns, villages and isolated 
country seats, teaching our people how surface and sub- 
surface irrigation and other scientific methods of sewage dis- 
posal may be successfully employed with the water carriage 
system, rendering these abominable cesspools, as well as the 
pollution of our rivers and harbors by direct discharges 
from sewers, utterly unnecessary. 



461 




Fig-. 406. Dry Hopper. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Hopper Closets and Improved Closets. 

We come now to the class 
of water closets which is 
independent of valves, gates, 
plungers or mechanical 
seals or obstructions of any 
kind, and which accomplish 
both the removal of the 
wastes and the exclusion of 
sewer gas by the simple ac- 
tion of the flushing stream and by the water seal which it 
forms. 

These closets have received the general name of "hopper 
closets." They do their work more effectively and by sim- 
pler means, and afford equal or better security against sewer 
gas than the complicated machines heretofore described, 
and must be placed far ahead of them. There is no point 
in plumbing in which sanitarians are more in accord than 
in this. But it must be borne in mind that there is the 
greatest difference in the different kinds of hoppers, and it 
is to the improved kinds that we refer in our comparison 
with other closets. 

Hopper closets have usually been classified as "long" and 
"short" hoppers; i. e.« those having the trap above and 
those having it below the floor level. 

The trap should, however, never be placed below the floor 
except where it is necessary to avoid the effects of frost, 
and, as this is a condition which applies equally to all styles 



462 



Hopper Closets and Improved Closets. 

of closets, it marks no distinguishing characteristic, and 
can form no proper basis of classification for any special 
type. Abandoning, therefore, this old classification, and 
adopting for our basis the most important characteristic 
features of the closets, we make two general divisions, and 
further detailed subdivisions. 

The general divisions are ( i ) Those which have no 
standing water in the bowl to receive and deodorize the 
waste matters and prevent their striking and adhering to 
dry surfaces. These may be called "dry" hoppers. The 
water stands only in the trap. (2) Those whose bowls are 
formed to retain a permanent body of water in the bowl 
so that no part of the interior can be soiled by waste mat- 
ters striking them. These we may call "improved" hop- 
pers. 

Dry Hoppers. 

Fig. 406 represents a wash-down water closet of this class 
having the trap above the floor, and when the water seal is 
small it is usually called a "short" hopper. 

Fig. 407 represents the same kind of a closet with the 
trap below the floor, and is then called the "long" hopper. 
It is intended to be used in cold places where the water in 
the trap can only be protected from frost by burying the 
trap in the ground. It is sometimes said that the wastes 
are more easily ejected from the trap of the long hopper 
on account of the greater weight and momentum of the fall- 
ing water. But what little may be gained in this direc- 
tion is far more than offset by the disadvantage of having 
an increased dry surface to be fouled above the trap, and 
as there is no difficulty in ejecting the contents of a trap 
above the floor when the flushing stream is properly 
constructed, this form of hopper is most strongly to be con- 
demned except where frost renders it a necessity. Even 

463 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



where great cold is to be guarded against, however, it is 
better to properly pack the trap above the floor where this 
can be done. The trap of the long hopper is so low down 
as to be practically out of sight, and when unsealed by 
momentum or otherwise the accident may easily escape dis- 
covery. 

The seal of the dry hoppers is much too shallow, a con- 




Fig. 407. Long- Hopper. 

sideration of the first importance in water closets, as will 
be hereafter shown. 

It will be seen from the drawings that the surface of the 
water in the trap of these closets is entirely insufficient in 
area to receive the wastes, which fall upon the dry sides 
of the bowl, and require constant attention and disagreeable 
labor to remove them. On account of this defect, dry hop- 

464 



Hopper Closets and Improved Closets. 

pers are sold at a low price, and they are bought to save 
in first cost, under a mistaken idea of economy. They 
should never be used in the better class of houses because 
the trouble necessary to keep them clean will not be en- 
dured ; nor in the poorer classes because the trouble will 
not be taken, and the closet soon becomes a nuisance in the 
house. Or if, by exception, cleanliness in this direction be 
insisted on, the extra labor and consumption of water soon 
offsets the saving in first cost. 

It is easy to see that the water required for cleaning the 
dry hopper is very much greater than for the improved 
kind, whether the scouring be done by the strength of the 
flush or by manual labor, for, as is well known, soil adheres 
with the greatest tenacity to a dry surface. In view of this 
fact, dry hoppers have to be constructed with a copious and 
powerful flush, and there is a strong temptation for the user, 
and especially for servants having them in charge, to try 
to remove the tenacious substances by prolonged flushing 
in order to avoid a disagreeable manual labor. This prac- 
tice occasions a waste of water far greater than most people 
imagine. 

An effort has been made to overcome this objection by 
using a valve or cistern constructed to give a small prelim- 
inary wash before using. But this complicates the construc- 
tion and adds to the water consumption, adding enough to 
the first cost to pay for a hopper of proper construction, 
and to the subsequent operating expense, to pay interest on 
the very best fixtures. The preliminary wash, moreover, is 
really quite insufficient for the purpose. 

Improved hoppers may be subdivided into seven classes, 
as follows (a) tilting basin, (b) air-vacuum, (c) wash 
down, (d) trap jet, (e) siphon, (f) wash out, and (g) self- 
sealing closets. 

465 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



Tilting Basin Closet. 
Fig. 408 represents a water closet of this class. Its pecu- 
liarity consists in having a double bowl, like the Jennings 
tilting wash basin. The outer basin is connected with an 
ordinary S trap and is stationary. The inner basin is piv- 
oted to tilt after use and empty its contents into the station- 




Fig. 408. Tilting Hopper. 






Fig. 409. Air Vacuum Closet. 



ary basin, whence they are supposed to pass out into the 
soil pipe. The tilting is done by hand. This is a very bad 
and clumsy arrangement. The stationary bowl corresponds 
with the receiver of the pan closet and partakes of its de- 
fects. The inner bowl conceals the trap, which should be 
visible, adds greatly to the complexity and cost of the closet 

466 



Hopper Closets and Improved Closets. 



without having any advantage, and necessitates a disagree- 
able manual labor in tilting. 

Air Vacuum Closet. 
Fig. 409 represents a water closet having a double trap, 
the space between the two being for a vacuum chamber. 
The vacuum is formed by the operation of the cistern which, 
in supplying the flush, withdraws air from the traps to take 
the place of the water. This is one of the first closets hav- 
ing a scientific form of basin and standing water therein. 
but the complication of the cistern and double trap are 
against it, and are now found to be superfluous in water 
closet construction. 




Fig. 410. Wash Down Closei. 

Washdown Closet. 
This form of closet, Fig. 410, depends for its flushing 
upon the power of a stream or of streams and separate jets 
striking from above the surface of the water and its waste 
matters standing in the bowl. The quantity and surface of 
this water must be small, as otherwise the flushing stream, 
however powerful and copious, so applied proves inadequate 
to the task of ejecting the contents completely from, the 
bowl and trap. The substances floating in the water are 
tossed and twirled about for some time before they come 
under the influence of the stream and jets calculated to sub- 
merge them. The water "piles up" in the bowl and a great 
waste is occasioned. 

467 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

The force of the water is not judiciously applied. When 
the surface of the water standing in the bowl is large 
enough to perform its office of receiving the dejections with 
certainty and thoroughness their removal, if possible at all, 
is accomplished only with still greater wastefulness, and the 
roar of the cataract of water required forms, particularly 
when metered, no welcome music for the consumer. This 
type of closet was the most widely used of all before the 
advent into general use of the siphon jet closet, about 
1885. 




Fig. 411. 



Col. 



Waring's Original Siphon Closet, called 
the "Dececo." 



Siphon Closet. 

Fig. 411 represents a type of closet invented by Col. War- 
ing, in which the wastes are discharged by siphoning action. 
A weir chamber is used below the trap to assist in charging 
the siphon. In the figure the weir chamber is shown below 
the floor, and is made in a separate piece from the rest of 
the closet. In later constructions the weir chamber is placed 
above the floor and made in a single compact piece with the 
rest of the closet. In order to charge the siphon the water 
is let into the basin through the supply pipe and the flushing 
rim until it overflows the outlet of the trap, and falls into 



468 



Hopper Closets and Improved Closets. 

the weir chamber below. The falling water drives out the 
air between the trap and weir, and if the quantity of water 
is sufficient it closes the inlet of the weir before it can es- 
cape through the outlet. This prevents air from entering 
the siphon. As soon as the siphon thus formed lowers the 
water in the bowl to the bottom of the dip of the trap air 
follows it and breaks the siphon. When the contents of the 
weir chamber fall below the inlet, and allow air again to 
enter the siphon. The bowl is refilled by the after wash. 
This was at one time a very popular form of water closet. 

Washout Closet. 
Washout closets are those in which the basin is made to 
hold a certain quantity of standing water while the trap is 
placed below its level, usually entirely below the bowl. The 




Fig. 412. 

outlet from the basin into the trap is above the level of the 
standing water. Hence these closets are sometimes called 
"side outlet" closets. In Fig. 412 is shown a washout closet 
made of a single piece of earthenware, and having the sup- 
ply pipe opposite the outlet into the trap. This closet is 
also made with an earthenware body and an iron trap, and 
having the supply pipe in the rear. The flushing stream 
sweeps across the bottom of the bowl with considerable 

469 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

force and drives the waste before it into the trap. Whether 
or not the trap itself be emptied depends upon the length 
of time the flushing is continued after the bowl is cleared. 

A defect in this form of closet is in the presence of the 
extended pipe surface between the basin and the trap, and 
of its upper corners near the cleanout opening, which par- 
takes of the nature of a receiver. It would be better if this 
dry pipe or canal were not required. The smaller and more 
compact the surface of a water closet is the better. The 
trap is deep down out of sight and is somewhat inconvenient 
of access when it is necessary to empty it of its water, as 
is the case with water-closets of summer residences which 
are to remain unoccupied during the winter. 

A second defect lies in the unscientific manner in which 
the flushing is accomplished, leading to a waste of water. 
Of that which rushes across the basin only a portion takes 
effect directly upon the waste matters, the rest spends its 
force upon the sides and back of the bowl to no advantage, 
and rebounding amuses itself in twirling the lighter sub- 
stances about in small eddies for a time before it shoots 
them into the trap. In a perfect system of flushing no water 
should be wasted. Every drop should serve a useful pur- 
pose, and devote its entire energy to ejecting the wastes and 
the wastes only, solid and dissolved, but not the pure water, 
for as we have seen it is important for the most economical 
disposal of sewage, that it be diluted as little as possible. 

A third defect is in the position of the trap, it being such 
that the water is either partially or wholly out of sight, 
so that it is impossible to know the condition of its contents, 
or even if it retains its water seal at all. 

A fourth defect is in the spattering occasioned by the 
violence of the water flow, and a fifth in the excessive noisi- 
ness of the flushing. 



470 




CHAPTER XXXII. 

Trap Jet Closet. 

Fig. 413 represents a kind of 
hopper closet invented in England 
about half a century ago by Thomas 
Smith. In this closet the flushing 
stream is applied to much better ad- 
vantage for emptying the basin and 
trap than in the preceding. 
To overcome the inertia of the heavy body of stand- 
ing water in the bowl and trap, a jet of water is intro- 
duced directly into this water below its normal level, and in 
the direction of its outflow. A given stream or head of 
water acts far more effectively in communicating motion to 
an inert volume of liquid, when it enters directly within 
that body than when it strikes its surface from some point 
above or outside of it. In the latter case the force of the 
water is exhausted, partly by friction in passing through 
the air, which tends to divide it into a spray, and partly by 
the impact against the water surface by which it is turned 
and partly deflected. The remainder of the flushing stream 
enters from above in the usual way. The lower jet tends 
to prevent the "piling up" of the water in the basin. 

This is the prototype of what has become within the last 
ten years the most popular and most scientific form of water 
closet known. 

Fig. 414 represents this closet in section. 
Thomas Smith appears never to have been rewarded in 
any way for this invention by the unappreciative public as 
he should have been, but enjoyed the usual fate of an in- 
ventor whose ideas subsequently become of service to the 
world, that of oblivion. Hence this little tribute to his 
memory. 

471 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 





*Fig. 413. Reproduction of 
English Patent Office Drawing 
of the Thomas Smith Patent 
of 1842. 



Fig. 414. Section of the 
English Siphon Jet Patent of 
1842 of Thomas Smith. 



In 1876 another Smith, surnamed William, this time from 
California, secured a patent for a combination of siphon 
jets, as shown in his patent drawing, Fig. 412B, but soon 
found in practice that only the single jet of his English 



*Thos. Smith's English Patent of 1842, with English Patent 
Office Coat of Arms. 



472 



Trap Jet Closet. 

brother Thomas, was of any real value, and he never used 
his own invention. Nevertheless, since the world seemed 
to have forgotten poor Thomas way off in the antipodes, 
William claimed himself to be the sole and original inventor 
of the siphon jet closet, and proclaimed that he was the only 
one who ought to enjoy the privilege of making them. 
Accordingly in 1888, secretly aided and instigated, as the 
story goes, by unlimited and unscrupulous outside capital, he 
brought a most unrighteous suit against the makers of the 




Fig. 412-b. Modification by William Smith, of California. 

"Sanitas" closet without the shadow of a just reason and 
lost his case, as a little common sense would have shown 
would be inevitable, after much expense and annoyance to 
everyone connected with the affair. In the more civilized 
"dark ages" such highwayman's villainy was sometimes 
roundly punished by an indignant public. But in these days 
the public are too busy with their own petty individual com- 
mercial robberies to mind such a commonplace indignity as 
the attempted clubbing in the dark by a bullying giant of 

473 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

some poor inventor. They are even too much occupied to 
applaud feebly when the bully sometimes, as in this case, 
receives his well merited whipping. These wicked marauders 
performed nevertheless the useful service of advertising the 
siphon jet principle as valuable public property. The episode 
adds one more to the long and wearisome list of persecu- 
tions the average hard working inventor is still subjected 
to by the unscrupulous as a sacrifice to the moloch of capital- 
ism. It is certainly fortunate for the cause of progress in 
the world that inventors as a class are ignorant of the dismal 
history of their past. For if they were not most of them 
would have chosen say, street sweeping, as a more blissful 
and lucrative occupation than the work for which nature 
seemed to fit them. The time has certainly arrived when the 
State should insure adequate reward to the useful inventor 
or at least legal protection in the use of the patent it grants 
him both in the interest of progress and of justice and public 
welfare. 

The requisites for a water-closet are, (i) simplicity, (2) 
quickness and thoroughness of Hushing, (3) freedom from 
all unscoured parts, (4) economy in construction and zvater 
consumption, (5) compactness and convenience of form, 
(6) amplitude of standing water in the bowl, (7) accessi- 
bility and visibility of all parts, including trap, (8) smooth- 
ness of material, (9) strength and durability of construction, 
( 10) facility and reliability in jointing, (11) security against 
evaporation and siphonage, (12) ease and convenience of 
flushing, (13) noiselessness in operation, and (14) neatness 
of appearance. 

The pan-closet must be discarded, because it violates every 
one of the above requirements. 

The valve and plunger closets must be discarded, because 
they violate all but the sixth and twelfth requirements. 

474 



Trap Jet Closet. 

The ordinary so-called long and short hoppers are to be 
rejected, because they violate the second, third, fourth, sixth, 
tenth, eleventh, and thirteenth requirements. There is no 
standing water in their bowls to receive and deodorize the 
soil, so that they are constantly fouled. A preliminary flush 
is sometimes arranged, to partially obviate this trouble, but 
this contrivance is not to be relied upon. The method of con- 
necting the common hopper with the soil-pipe is usually de- 
fective, the seal is too shallow to withstand even a slight 
evaporation and siphonage, and they are exceedingly noisy 
in operation. 

All closets which depend upon a double trap violate rules 
i, 4, 7, II, and 13. Should anything get lodged in the 
lower trap, it is generally impossible to get it out without 
taking the entire apparatus down; and when the lower trap 
is formed in a single piece of earthenware with the rest of 
the closet, an obstruction therein could not, in some cases, 
be removed without breaking the closet open. 

The side-outlet, or so-called wash-out type of closets, have 
a shallow bowl flushed by a strong stream of water, which is 
intended to drive the waste matters out of the bowl into a 
shallow trap underneath; they violate rules 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 11. 
12, and 13. 

The flushing is usually attended with spattering. The 
standing water in the bowl is not sufficiently deep, and the 
manner of flushing is noisy and ineffective, the lighter 
wastes frequently whirling round and round for some 
time before being driven out. The trap is inconvenient of 
access, and its seal is very shallow, and easily broken by 
siphonage, evaporation, or incorrect setting, and being out 
of sight, the evil may not be discovered until the damage 
is done. The pipe surface between the basin and the pipe 
is easily fouled and difficult to clean, 

475 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

In the effort to obtain a water-closet which should fulfill 
all of the above-mentioned requirements, the writer made 
use of a principle of hydraulics new in the practice of plumb- 
ing, namely, that of supporting a water column by atmos- 
pheric pressure acting only at its lower end. The principle 
is explained by the simple laboratory experiment of the in- 
verted bottle in the basin of water (Fig. 415). If an ordi- 
nary bottle be filled with water and inverted in such a 
manner that its mouth shall be immersed below the surface 





Fig. 415. Inverted Bottle. 



Fig. 



416. Water Exhausted 
from the Bowl. 



of water in a basin below, the water in the bottle will be sup- 
ported by atmospheric pressure feting on the surface of 
that in the basin. Let now this surface be lowered by any 
cause, and we shall find that it will be instantly restored 
from the bottle as soon as it sinks below its mouth, as shown 
in Fig. 416. 

This principle was applied to water-closet construction 
in the manner illustrated in Fig. 417. The water-closet rep- 
resents our basin, and its supply pipe our inverted bottle, 
which is closed at its top by the cistern-valve. If water 
is exhausted from the closet bowl by evaporation, siphonage, 
or any other cause, a fresh supply descends automatically 

476 



Trap Jet Closet. 

from the pipe as soon as the surface sinks below its mouth. 
Inasmuch as in the construction of the closet, this mouth 
is placed above the bottom of the water-seal, it is evident 
that water will instantly descend from the pipe before the 
seal can be broken. This seal is quite deep, and the mouth 





Fig. 418. Plan of closet. 



Fig. 417. Diagram illustrating 
the principle of the apparatus. 



of the pipe is midway between the top and bottom of the 
seal that is below the normal level of the standing water 
in the bowl. 

Fig. 422 represents the actual construction of the closet. 

The action of the apparatus is as follows : — 

The cistern-valve being raised, the balance of atmospheric 

477 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

pressure is restored, the water column in the pipe instantly 
begins to move, and, since it connects with the water in the 
closet below its level, it acts noiselessly and effects a 
thorough flushing. 

A novelty in the general principle of construction involves 
corresponding novelties in many details. 

The lower end of the supply-pipe is not simply opened at 
a single point below the water level, but is conducted to two 
places independent of each other, the first being intermediate 
between the overflow of the trap and the bottom of the seal, 
as is shown in Fig. 417, and the second at the bottom of the 
trap. The first forms the mouth proper of the "inverted 
bottle" and supplies water to the flushing rim, and the second 
furnishes a jet which lifts part of the water out of the trap 
and bowl by its propelling power. Since both jets enter 
below the level of a large body of standing water in the 
bowl, their noise is deadened, and, as the supply pipe always 
stands full, they act instantly, and the flushing of the closet 
is very rapid. The lower jet causes the water and waste 
matters in the closet to sink into the neck of the bowl. Mean- 
while the upper jet fills the passages and annular chamber 
leading to and surrounding the flushing rim, overflows, and, 
descending into the neck of the bowl, falls upon and drives 
out the waste matters collected in the neck quietly and with- 
out waste of water. 

The cistern-valve being again closed, movement in the 
supply-valve immediately ceases, and the water in the flush- 
ing rim and passages leading thereto, falls back into the 
closet and restores the normal level of the standing water in 
the bowl and trap. 

The form of the closet bowl is shown in plan in Fig. 418. 
The standing water has the shape best -calculated to receive 
and deodorize the waste matters falling into it. It is deepest 

478 



Trap Jet Closet. 

at the back of the closet, and very deep at the point where 
the wastes strike. Its surface is long and comparatively nar- 
row, and is not round or elliptical, as has heretofore been 
customary. 




Fig. 419. Fig. 420. 

Two of the writer's Experimental Closets. 



By examining Fig. 422 it will be observed that the 
the under surface or the bowl is horizontal from front to 
rear, except at the outlet, and that this surface is immersed 
under an inch or so of water. It will also be observed that 
the water-slots in the flushing rim are largest in the front 
and rear, and gradually diminish as they extend round to the 
sides. The result of this conformation is that the upper 
flushing water jumps on top of the waste matters and acts 
to the best possible advantage in driving them quickly out, 
and the closet can be easily flushed in three seconds by less 
than a gallon and a half of water. 

A stream of water may be rendered noiseless, however 
rapid and powerful its movement, by properly directing it 

479 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

into a body of water considerably larger than itself, pro- 
vided the point of entrance be below the surface. It is not 
sufficient to do this in the manner usual in the old form of 
English and French siphon-jet closets, because the jet in 
these at once throws the standing water out of its way, 
and then makes an uproar even more appalling than the ordi- 
nary flushing stream. In these "siphon-jet" closets, the water 
used for cleansing the upper part of the bowl, when used in 
combination with the jet in the trap, is not only insufficient 
to keep the lower jet covered, but makes a most disagreeable 
clamor of itself, after the usual manner with modern closets. 



Fig. 421. A third one of the Experimental Closets. 

The upper flushing stream should furnish a body of water 
nicely calculated to keep the lower stream just covered, and 
should itself be noiseless. The former result is easily at- 
tained by simply adjusting the size of the upper and lower 
flushing openings with reference to each other; the latter 
by constructing a special chamber into which the upper flush- 
ing stream may be projected before it enters the bowl. The 
upper part of this chamber forms an annular ring and 
surrounds the flushing rim. Being above the level of the 
standing water in the bowl, it receives only clean water. 
Being constructed in such a manner as to drain itself back 

480 



Trap Jet Closet. 

into the closet bowl after each flushing action, it stands, 
like the flushing rim proper, empty at all times except- 
ing during the moment of flushing. The upper jet dis- 





Fig. 422. Section of the Sanitas W. C. Outfit. 

charges into the standing water in the lower part of this 
chamber, and its sound is instantly and entirely deadened 
The water rises in the annular chamber and overflows 

481 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

through the flushing rim to descend quietly into the bowl, 
lubricate its sides, and assist the lower stream in ejecting 
the wastes and flushing the closet and drain-pipes. 

It will be observed, by referring to the perspective draw- 
ing, that the closet is provided with a cistern overflow con- 




Perspective View. 



nection at the flushing rim. The same pipe may serve also as 
a ventilating pipe. By connecting this with a proper venti- 
lating flue above the cistern, in the manner shown in the 
drawing, Fig. 420, the seat and bowl of the closet may be 
ventilated. Such ventilation is serviceable at the moment of 
usage of the closet, but it is not needed for the bowl and trap 
themselves, which are kept odorless by their construction 

482 



Trap Jet Closet. 

and arrangements for flushing. It is well, however, always 
to ventilate toilet-rooms, and as good a place as any to 
locate the ventilating outfit is under the seat of the water- 
closet in the manner described. 

Figs. 419, 420 and 421 explain the principle of this closet. 
Several jets were tried at first in the form of a rose as shown, 
but a single jet or two jets were finally found most effective 
for the ejector as shown in 422. Fig. 423 shows the ap- 
pliance in perspective. 



c. ■ _ ■ _■ M \ ■■■■ . » 1 ".> »%„ 





Ft? 



Fig. 425. Fig. 426. 

Longitudinal and Transverse Sections of the First Raised Jet Closet. 



Figs. 425 and 426 represent sections taken from the 
writer's original designs of his further improvement which 
was the first closet made with the jet above the bottom of 
the trap, partly for the purpose of sound deadening and 
partly to improve the appearance and the power of the 
flush. 

Mr. Wm. Paul Gerhard in his German work on plumbing 
published in 1897, in Stuttgart, Germany, describes at some 
length a number of features of the "Sanitas" closet, which 
seemed to him advantageous as compared with the makes or 
styles prevailing at the time, and shows that closets built on 



483 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the siphon jet principle of flushing nearly all appeared after 
the introduction of this appliance, and "suddenly enjoyed a 
great popularity." The "Sanitas" fixture he says "has no- 
where a superfluous or undesirable angle, corner or surface 
to get foul," has a large and properly formed water surface, 
"and the arrangements for water flushing are novel," etc., 
and he goes on to describe the other features which were 
at that time new, somewhat as we have already pointed them 
out. The majority of appliances at that time had a number 
of objections and says Gerhard,* also, "labored under the 
disadvantage of making a great noise in flushing." These 
objections caused the public to appreciate the advantages 
of the new principle, and as a matter of fact the success 
of this closet immediately led to a great number of imi- 
tations until finally the siphon jet closet became practi- 
cally the only one in general use. 



The Securitas Water-Closet. 

Figs. 427 to 431 show later improvements in this device 
developed by the writer in connection with his shallow seal 
"Securitas" trap and designated by the same name. 

The principal points of these recent improvements are, 
first, a much deeper seal ; second, a construction of the upper 
or rim flush so as to require the water to enter the bowl 
absolutely free from pressure and without the customary 
rim perforations. This insures noiselessness at this point. 
Third, an inclined shelf all around inside at the neck of the 



*"Entwasserungs-Anlagen Amerikanischer Gebaude" Nr. 10 in "Forts- 
chritte auf dem Gebiete der Architektur" Stuttgart 1897, Verlag von 
Arnold Bergstrasser 

484 



Trap Jet Closet. 

bowl so arranged as to break the fall of the upper flush 
and render it noiseless again at this point; fourth, a con- 
struction of the siphon jet at the level of the dip of the trap 
in accordance with designs originated by the writer in his 
earlier experiments in attaining noiseless action as shown in 




Fig. 427. 



Fig. 428. 




Fig. 428a. 
Sections and Plan of the First Step in the Later Improvements. 



Figs. 425 and 426, but with the improvement now of giving 
the jet an oval form and a special method of co-operating 
with an immediately adjoining jet supplying the upper flush, 
as shown in Fig. 429, for the purpose of completely balanc- 
ing the action of the two jets ; fifth, a very great increase 

485 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

in the power of the jets whereby their action becomes much 
quicker and more effective in every way; sixth, a curving 
of the upcast limb of the trap around the siphon jet in such 
a manner as to force the flushing stream across the path of 
the jet whereby the waste matters are caught up at once and 
whirled directly into the waste pipe without hesitation or 
back eddies; and finally, seventh, an enlargement of the 
waste pipe end of the fixture beyond the crown of the trap 
so that it shall exceed the size of the trap itself for the pur- 
pose of preventing the siphon action, generally sought for to 
assist the jet in discharging the wastes. This siphonic or 
suction action is most unscientific and undesirable because 
it renders the flushing of the apparatus dependent upon a 
fortuitous and varying suction pull differing with each dif- 
ferent installation, rather than upon a scientifically adjusted 
jet power, permanently regulated by a definite water head 
established for each fixture by distance below the main 
house-cistern in the attic above the jet. This regulation is 
accomplished by a very simple small auxiliary valve beyond 
the main valve, or flushometer, directly connected with 
each closet. 

It nicely regulates the duration of the flush to the 
amount required and thus prevents all water waste. 

Moreover, the siphonic, or suction action, tends to un- 
cover the jet and invariably gives rise to noisy action, some- 
times very loud, especially when the jet is exposed. 

The breaking of the suction, moreover, adds a most dis- 
agreeable gulping noise at the end of the action. These ob- 
jectionable features are avoided by the use of the exclu- 
sive jet action of discharge without siphonage. 

All these various modifications combine to produce an 
extraordinarily rapid and positive discharge of the waste 
matters with a minimum consumption of water and a maxi- 

486 



Trap Jet Closet. 




Fig. 420. Longitudinal Section of Final Improveemnt. 




Fig. 430. Transverse Section of Final Improvement. 

487 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

mum noiselessness. This quiet instantaneous action produces 
an almost magical effect. On operating the flush valve the 
water level in the bowl instantly drops while the upper 




Fig. 431. Plan of Final Improvement. 



flush noiselessly wells over the edge in a thick layer, glides 
down to the neck ledge, and the jets being nicely propor- 
tioned to each other, keeps the water supply above the dip, 
muffling the lower jet while the waste matters disappear. 
Scarcely has the action fairly begun when it is finished and 
clean water is seen to rise again in the bowl from the reser- 
voir chamber as noiselessly and almost as quickly as it dis- 
appeared. Nothing can resist the power of these jets work- 
ing in co-operation in the deep funnel of the bowl, and the 
lightest substances are whisked away with the same quiet 
relentless certainty that a cork rides over the edge of 
Niagara. 

In order still further to insure that there shall be no 
siphon or suction action of the drain end beyond the trap, 

488 



Trap Jet Closet. 

a short air pipe may be run from a small hole beyond the 
crown of the trap into the main soil pipe behind the closet. 
This, however, is not indispensable, but only a refinement. 

The very deep seal of this fixture, especially when aided 
by the shallow seal trap, renders this closet absolutely anti- 
siphonic, for the reasons already described, so that the last 
argument raised for back venting becomes groundless. 

Figs. 427 to 428 represent the steps leading to the per- 
fected design 429 to 431. 

Fig. 432 shows an early method of replenishing the seal of 
a siphon closet indefinitely and automatically after siphon- 




Fig. 432. Writer's Early Device for Perpetual Refilling of Trap 
Seal Reduced by Evaporation, Siphonage or Other Cause. 



age or evaporation. The lowering of the water in the trap 
through any cause opens the cistern suppjy valve automat- 
ically by atmospheric pressure variation, and closes it again 
as soon as the trap fills. But the simpler method of seal 

489 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

protection devised later and described above now renders 
this more complicated device superfluous. 

Fig. 433 shows in section one of the numerous direct flush- 




FLOW R5GU1ATIHG VA1VB. 



Fig. 433. Flush Valve. 
(By permission of Nethery Hydraulic Valve Co., N. Y.) 




Fig. 434. The "Boston" Flush Valve. 

(By permission of the Phillips Flushing Tank Co., Boston.) 

490 



Trap Jet Closet. 

ing valves in common use now for pressure service with- 
out individual closet cisterns. 

Fig. 434 shows another kind of these direct connected 
valves, Fig. 434a a thind kind, and Fig. 435 a convenient 
method of attaching it to a closet, and the closet to the 
wall. 




Fig. 434a. Sectional View of Flushing Valve/ 



t*n 




Pig. 435. The Flushometer Attached to a Water Closet Having Its 
Support on a Fireproof Wall or Partition.! 



♦Called the "Watrous Aquameter. 
Co., N. Y. 



Made by the Federal Huber 

JThe Water Closet made by the same firm. 

491 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Fig. 436 shows the ordinary form of siphon jet closet 
now in vogue. The action of the jet is aided by a suction 
pull on the drain pipe side of the trap created by the form 
of the down cast limb beyond the trap, and this suction being 
variable in strength, sometimes uncovers the jet and allows 
its full roaring noise to be heard. 



Figr. 436. Ordinary Form of Siphon Jet Closet Obtaining Siphon 
Action in Waste Pipe. 

Let us now examine our table of desiderata and see in 
how far our "Securitas" closet, Figs. 429 to 431, conforms 
thereto. 

1. Simplicity. We find in it the simplest form possible 
with closets. The trap and the bowl are one and the same 
thing. Each forms half of the other. The flushing is accom- 
plished by the pressure of the water only, and without ma- 
chinery of any kind in the closet. We have, in fact, the 
simplicity of the short hopper, which is the simplest form of 
water-closet known. 

2. Quickness and thoroughness of Hushing. The maxi- 
mum of rapidity of flushing is attained by having the supply- 
pipe always full of water, so that the action at the lower 
end takes place simultaneously with the operation of the 
valve, and all delay and loss of power occasioned by the 
water falling from the cistern through the pipe and against 
the resistance of the enclosed air is avoided. Where the 

492 



Trap Jet Closet. 

power is taken from a common cistern at the top of the 
building serving all the stories below, or where it is taken 
direct from the city main, the same result is obtained by the 
use of a pressure valve or a flushometer of some torm, the 
water being reasonably free from grit as it should be through 
proper sedimentation or filtration. The combined action of 
the two lower jets of water is, moreover, as already de- 
scribed, such as to accomplish the removal of the waste 
matters with the utmost speed, in virtue of their co-opera- 
tion. 

The thoroughness of the flushing or cleansing action, with 
a given quantity of water, is evidently in direct proportion 
to the rapidity and direction of the action, it being assumed 
that the surfaces to be flushed are properly constructed to 
receive it, as is the case with the closet under consideration. 
The form and volume of the standing water in the bowl is 
such as to protect the sides from being fouled by adhesive 
matters. The solid and heavy wastes, which are the adhesive 
ones, cannot fall against these sides. If liquid or semi-liquid 
matters are projected against them they will not stick. There- 
fore these sides require not so much great force, as a uni- 
form distribution of the flushing water. The parts which 
require scouring force are those below and beyond, includ- 
ing the trap and the main soil and drain pipes, and it is 
these parts which in this closet receive it. The scouring 
action on the pipes is here equal to that of the plunger 
closet, while it exerts less siphoning action on fixtures be- 
low the latter, because air freely follows the discharge 
and prevents the formation of a vacuum. 

3. Freedom from all unscoured parts. The closet con- 
tains no cesspool in its construction, and has the minimum 
extent of surface, interior and exterior, possible in a water- 
closet. 

4. Economy in construction and water consumption. 

493 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Being constructed of a single piece of earthenware of com- 
pact and simple form, this desideratum is met. The con- 
sumption of water is reduced to a minimum, in the manner 
already explained. No loss of power is sustained in the 
supply-pipe, and each drop in the closet acts in the most 
effective manner, in concert with the rest, to produce a rapid 
and thorough flush. 

5. Compactness and convenience of form. The closet 
occupies the minimum of space, as may be seen from the 
drawings. 

6. Amplitude of standing water in the bowl. The stand- 
ing water has the proper form and depth, and its surface 
is calculated to stand at the most desirable distance below 
the seat of the closet. It will be seen, upon reflection and 
experiment, and in testing different forms of water-closets, 
that the nearer the seat the surface of the standing water 
can be brought without causing inconvenience the less lia- 
bility there will be for spattering. 

7. Accessibility and visibility of all parts, including the 
trap. A study of the drawings will show that this desider- 
atum has been attained. 

8. Smoothness of material. The closet being constructed 
of glazed earthenware in a single piece, and everywhere with 
easy bends, this requirement is fully answered. 

9. Strength and durability of construction. The compact 
*and simple form of the closet, the central position of the 
base under the bowl giving it equal and firm support, and 
the soundness and reliability of its soil-pipe connection, give 
it the greatest strength and durability possible with water- 
closets. 

10. Facility and reliability of jointing. There is but a 
single, simple, and strong brass coupling connection to be 
made with the supply, and a single connection with the 

494 



Trap Jet Closet. 

waste-pipe. The small coupling at the flushing rim for a 
seat vent and cistern overflow may be used or closed up, as 
desired. 

ii. Security against evaporation and siphonage. The 
new principle of supply already described, together with 
the unusual depth of the water-seal, renders this closet 
practically secure against loss of seal through evaporation 
and siphonage. A further protection consists in the use of 
a Securitas trap under an adjoining fixture so that a partial 
vacuum in the soil pipe caused by siphonic action will be 
broken by the fresh air passing through the shallow trap 
without destroying its seal. 

12. Ease and convenience of Hashing. It is only neces- 
sary to actuate the valve and immediately release it again 
to obtain a sufficient, and no more than sufficient, flush. The 
trap and bowl refill themselves automatically after the flush. 
The valve may also be operated by a simple seat or door 
attachment, if desired. 

13. Noiselessness in operation. It has hitherto been as- 
sumed that it would be impossible to combine noiseless action 
with a powerful and rapid water scour. Nevertheless, this 
has been accomplished in the manner already described ; and 
the closet may be used as is agreeable to civilized people, 
without the "flourish of trumpets," usually attending the 
occasion. 

14. Neatness of appearance. 

In order to complete the idea of having everything in the 
bath room finished with a pure white enameled surface, the 
writer devised a pull to be made of opal glass or porcelain 
filled with white plaster, as shown in Fig. 437. Having the 
texture and surface appearance of the earthenware of the 
closet and other plumbing fixtures as well as of the soil and 
waste pipes which may also be porcelain enameled in 
the finest work, as described in connection with his new 

495 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



pipe system, it harmonizes with them in appearance, and 
requires no scrubbing or burnishing- to keep it permanently 
as bright as when new. 




Fig. 437. The Sanitas Opal W. C. Pull. 

Couplings. 
Figs. 438 to 440 show the writer's device for coupling 
pipes to earthenware, to which he gave the name "Sanitas." 

J, 




Couplings. 

This coupling consists of a brass tube with a trumpet- 
shaped mouth fitting into a corresponding inverted trumpet- 
shaped opening in the earthenware, together with an elastic 
gasket and coupling nut. The hole in the earthenware is 
made just large enough to receive, with a reasonable amount 
of play room, the trumpet end of the brass tube. The rubber 
gasket is moulded just large enough to slip over the thread- 
ing of the tube, by means of which the whole is tightened up. 




Fig:. 439. Sanitas Coupling, ready- 
to be connected. 



Fig-. 440. Sanitas Coupling, 
connected. 



The simple method of making the connection is as fol- 
lows : — The supply pipe to be connected with the earthen- 
ware is first soldered to the small or spigot end of the tube, 
having the brass washer and coupling nut in place. The 
rubber gasket is then stretched over the trumpet end of the 
tube, and pushed down until it occupies the position in Fig. 
439. The trumpet end and gasket will then slip into the hole 
in the earthenware, and the joint is finally made tight by 
screwing up the coupling nut, which may be done with the 
hand even, without the use of a wrench or any tool whatever. 
But the use of an ordinary wrench will of course render the 
tightening easier. The coupling when connected in place 
is shown in section in Fig. 440. It may be taken apart by 
simply reversing the operation of putting together. The nut 

497 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

is first unscrewed and the pipe pushed about one-half inch 
into the earthenware. This enables the rubber gasket to 
resume its original shape, as shown in Fig. 439, the outside 
shoulder of the gasket preventing its being pushed in with 
the pipe. The whole may then be withdrawn from the 
pottery. 

By using this coupling, tightness may be secured even if 
the surfaces of the earthenware are not perfectly true and 
smooth. The elastic gasket has a bearing on both inner and 
outer surfaces of the earthenware, giving double security 
against leakage ; and inasmuch as no hard surface comes in 
contact with the earthenware, there is no danger of fractur- 
ing the latter in tightening up, as so frequently happens 
with other couplings, to the great expense and annoyance 
of the plumber. The longer the coupling stands, the tighter 
and safer it becomes ; since the rubber gasket, after years, 
glues itself to the surfaces of contact so tightly that, were 
it not for the outer shoulder of the rubber gasket, it could 
not then be disconnected from the closet except by cutting 
it out with a knife. Soon after its introduction the major- 
ity of the potteries of the United States adopted the "San- 
itas" coupling as their standard under a royalty arrange- 
ment with the manufacturers. 

Urinals. 

As they are generally made, urinals are very objection- 
able things in private houses. 

For public places an automatic flushing cistern is fre- 
quently used, and this is perhaps the only certain method 
of insuring a sufficient flush for single urinals constructed 
in the usual way. But it involves a great consumption of 
water, inasmuch as the flushing goes on always, whether 
it be required or not. This is not only very wasteful, but 
also dilutes the sewage by so much more, and thus renders 

498 



Public Sanitaries. 

its disposal by land irrigation or filtration correspondingly 
more difficult. 

For private houses it is much better to allow the water 
closet to serve also as a urinal. It is sometimes advisable 
to set the closet on a platform so that the top of its bowl 
shall be at the height of a urinal, the platform extending 
out a little beyond the front of the bowl, so that the fixtures 
may be used equally conveniently as a water closet or as 
a urinal as desired. This is also sometimes advantageous 
in giving more pitch to the waste pipe from the closet. The 
bowl, containing already a large body of standing water, 
dilutes the urine and prevents its fouling the sides. Habit 




Figr. 441. 



with water closets leads to its flushing after its use as a 
urinal at times when the ordinary form of urinal would 
have been left unflushed. But should, by any chance, the 
flushing be neglected, the next use of the fixture as a 
water closet would insure its cleansing. Moreover, by com- 
bining the two fixtures in one, economy both of space 
and first cost is obtained, while the offensive appearance 

499 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

and odor of the urinal is avoided, and the consumption of 
water is greatly diminished. Here again the plumbing is 
advantageously simplified. 

In public buildings, however, such as hotels, railway sta- 
tions, manufactories, school or club houses, where proper 
and systematic attention may be expected, urinals may be- 
come not only desirable, but absolutely necessary. 




Fig. 442. 



Figs. 441 and 442 represent two ornamental public 
urinals. 

They should be provided in various places in the main 
thoroughfares easily accessible to the public as an important 
sanitary measure. 

It is best to have the flushing effected by some automatic 
device operated by a treadle arrangement or by the door 
of the apartment in which the urinal is placed, or else by 
a special attendant, so that as little water as possible need 
be added to the sewage, for reasons already explained. 

500 



Public Sanitaries. 

It is calculated that for stall urinals having a constant 
water flushing, the consumption of water often equals a 
half a gallon per minute per stall. 

The width of the stall should not be less than two feet, 
as some persons will not enter a narrow stall. The best of 
ventilation should always be provided in the room where 
urinals are placed. The divisions should not exceed five 
feet in height. Beyond this there is only a waste of ma- 
terial, and more to be kept clean. It goes without saying 
that the smoother and more impervious the material of 
which these stalls are made the better. 



501 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



Soil and Drain Pipes. 




Having shown simple 
ways in which offensive 
or dangerous gases may 
be securely trapped off 
and debarred from enter- 
ing the house through 
the various fixtures at 
their points of connec- 
tion with the water and 
soil pipes, it now re- 
mains to provide against 
a possibility of leakage 
in the drain pipes them- 
selves, for if these are unreliable and badly jointed all our 
pains with, traps and fixtures will be of little use. 

The term "soil pipe" is, by custom, applied to the per- 
pendicular portion of the main waste pipe. The horizontal 
part is called the "drain pipe." 

The Material and Methods of Jointing. 

The material for our pipes naturally forms the first sub- 
ject for consideration, inasmuch as upon it their propor- 
tions, treatment and arrangement in a great measure de- 
pend. 

By far the most suitable material yet discovered for 
soil and house drain pipes is iron, and the most important 
matter connected with its use is the formation of the joints 
between the separate pieces. 



502 



Soil and Drain Pipes. 

Lead has been almost entirely abandoned in this country 
for soil and drain pipes, on account of its want ot strength 
and elasticity ; its comparatively high cost ; its liability to be 
perforated by vermin, nails or corrosion ; and of the greater 
time and labor required to make the joints. Large lead 
pipes often sag of their own weight and tear away at their 
points of support. The action of alternate hot and cold 
water also produces a destructive effect upon the material. 
It expands under the influence of heat, but does not return 
again to its original dimensions, and accordingly it can be 
said to undergo perpetual change, creeping constantly from 
its original position ; and unless held in place by special 
provisions it would undoubtedly in time walk off by itself 
out of the premises altogether. Good stories are told of 
old leaden roofs which have crept entirely off the building 
and fallen into the street. 

S. Stevens Hellyer said in one of his early publications 
in comparing lead with other materials for soil pipes: "This 
may seem a curious question to ask of plumbers ; as well 
ask a shoemaker of what material should boots and shoes 
be made! Everybody knows that the latter would say, 
'There's nothing like leather,' as the former is sure to say, 
'There's nothing like lead.' * * * Allowing experience 
to be my schoolmaster, I answer lead, especially for our 
climate." Mr. Hellyer claims the following points of su- 
periority for lead : Its greater smoothness ; great resist- 
ance of corrosion ; greater ductility for bending to suit the 
various positions it has to occupy ; more perfect joints ; 
greater adaptability for connecting with branch wastes ; 
and greater compactness, which allows it to be placed in 
slots or niches smaller than those which are required for 
iron. He admits the following objections : Its deteriora- 
tion under alterations of temperature which tend to work 

503 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

it until it breaks ; its sagging ; its expensiveness ; its liabil- 
ity to be perforated by rats or carpenter's nails ; its greater 
weight ; and the requirement of greater skill in making 
the joints. 

The advantages which Mr. Hellyer claims for lead have 
within late years lost their force. Improved methods of 
protecting and jointing other materials have placed them 
in these respects far ahead of lead, as will be shown here- 
after. White enamel is now applied to cast iron in such a 
manner as to render the surface as smooth as that of new 
lead, and this art has been serviceable particularly in bath 
tubs and other fixtures, though it is also used in piping. 
But in use lead soon loses its smoothness and the sewage 
adheres to the surfaces of the pipe to a greater or less ex- 
tent and roughens it, in time, with a hard deposit of greater 
or less thickness according to the usage of the pipe, so that 
the difference in smoothness at the outset in favor of lead 
as compared with our iron pipe is of small consequence 
after a few years' use. The numerous cast bends and fit- 
tings now made and adapted to every possible turn or angle 
liable to be encountered in arranging the pipe renders the 
ductility of the lead pipe no longer of any advantage. 
Finally, other and more suitable materials are now joined 
in such a manner as to render them quite as compact as 
the lead pipe. 

Stone and brick drains cannot be effectively flushed, on 
account of the roughness of their interior surfaces. More- 
over, they are porous to a certain extent, and the cement 
with which they are laid is always more or less pervious 
to waste. 

Copper is easily corroded by the acids of decomposition, 
and is, moreover, too expensive except for exceptional cases 
which need not be considered here. 

504 



Soil and Drain Pipes. 

Zinc, tin and galvanized sheet iron are totally unsuitable 
and not to be considered for a moment. In the worst kind 
of "jerry buildings" they are, however, occasionally used. 

Cast and wrought iron are the materials which are now 
generally used, and they have proved themselves for this 
purpose the best. They are light, cheap, stiff and strong 
and they corrode so slowly that if of the proper thickness 
they will last as long as the house itself is likely to. 

The experiments of M. Gaudin, made in 1851, show the 
maximum rate of loss by rust of uncoated cast iron pipe 
exposed to the action of clean fresh water on both sides 
to be a little over an eighth of an inch per century. His 
experiments extended over a period of thirteen years. With 
the present method of protecting iron its life can be very 
greatly prolonged, indeed even the use of the ordinary 
bituminous coating (coal tar pitch) has proved, when it is 
properly applied, to be able to keep the pipe quite intact 
under certain conditions for twenty years. The life of a 
soil pipe, even when quite thin and uncoated, has been 
found by experience to be so great that it is not unreason- 
able to suppose that the greasy matters contained in house 
drainage serve to protect the pipe in a measure from the 
acid components of the sewage. 

Cast iron is brittle, but when iron of the proper softness 
is used, and when the castings are of sufficient thickness, 
its brittleness need not be an objection. 

Wrought iron is smoother, denser, more uniform in thick- 
ness and tougher than cast iron and can be absolutely tight- 
ly jointed by threading, and is more and more used each 
year for soil and drain pipes. Wrought iron when exposed 
uncoated to clean fresh water will rust quicker than cast 
iron under the same circumstances. On this ground manv 
persons have opposed its use for plumbing. But in view of 
the extreme slowness of the action of rust in both cases, 

505 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

especially when covered with the fatty deposits which coat 
the inner walls of these pipes, and in view of the ease and 
cheapness with which the surface may be protected before 
laying, this argument loses its force. Experience shows it 
to be in all respects a reliable and most satisfactory ma- 
terial for the larger sizes of soil and drain pipes. 

Joints. 
Equally important with the question of the material is 
the manner in which the several parts are put together, 
inasmuch as upon this depends not only the safety of the 
work, but also, in a measure, the choice of the material 
itself. The question of joining or coupling the pipe will 
therefore next be considered. 

Classification or Requirements. 

An ideal joint for waste pipes should possess the follow- 
ing ten characteristics, which may be called the ten com- 
mandments of pipe jointing: 

(i) It should be airtight even under heavy pressure, 
and even under considerable deflection. 

(2) It should be unaffected by the expansion and con- 
traction of the pipes. 

(3) It should be capable of resisting severe jars and 
strains, both compressive and tensile, such as are occasioned 
by its own weight and by settlement and movement in the 
building. In other words, it should be flexible. 

(4) It should be of such a form and nature as to admit 
of its being as easily taken apart for repairs or alterations 
as it is put together, and this without damage to any 
part. 

(5) Its form and construction should be such as to 
allow it to be made and put together rapidly, to follow 
easily the irregular contour of the construction, and to be 
used immediately after fixing in place. 

506 



Soil and Drain Pipes. 

(6) It should require no caulking or hammering, which 
is liable to fracture the pipe or its lining. 

(7) It should be so formed that any imperfection either 
in the materials used or in the manner of putting them 
together can be easily detected from without, without ex- 
pert aid, since only in this way can the owner be protected 
against accident or fraud. 

(8) It should be compact enough and so constructed 
as to enable it to be put together and used in contracted 
places and slots. 

(9) It should cause no obstruction to the waterway, 
and leave no space or pocket for the deposit of sediment. 

(10) It should be simple, durable, indestructible, eco- 
nomical, and unobjectionable in appearance. 

A pipe joint which shall answer the above desiderata 
would evidently be suitable for water, gas and other fluids 
under pressure, as well as for drains. 

Classification of the Different Kinds of Joints. 
Pipe joints may be divided into five general classes : 
I. The bell and spigot joint. 
■II. The flange joint. 

III. The sleeve joint. 

IV. The screw joint. 

V. The flexible joint. 

These may be subdivided as follows : 

I. The bell and spigot joint into : 

(a) The hand-caulked lead joint. 

(b) The machine-caulked lead joint. 

(c) The rubber ring joint. 

(d) The cement packing joint. 

II. The flange joint into: 

(a) The spigot and socket flange joint. 

507 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

(b) The spherical flange joint. 

(c) The loose ring flange joint. 

(d) The wedge and key flange joint. 

(e) The plain non-adjustable flange joint. 

(f) The plain adjustable flange joint. 

III. The sleeve joint into : 

(a) The lead packing sleeve joint. 

(b) The plain ring sleeve joint. 

(c) The divided ring sleeve joint. 

(d) The bolted ring sleeve joint. 

IV. The screw joint into: 

(a) The flanged screw joint. 

(b) The inner ring screw joint. 

(c) The outer ring screw joint. 

(d) The plain screw joint. 

V. The flexible joint into: 

(a) The rotary play joint. 

(b) The longitudinal play joint. 

The ordinary flanged joint secured by bolts, as used by 
engineers for gas, steam and water pipes, is unsuitable for 
plumbing purposes on account of the restrictions it presents 
in obtaining the proper directions, and to meet the different 
branches used in piping a house. At every point slight 
variations of direction are required to avoid the beams and 
other members of construction, and to meet the different 
fixtures at the proper angle. 

The steamfitters' flanged joint has not the flexibility 
which allows a piece of piping to be turned slightly on its 
axis in this or that direction before fixing, as is necessary. 
Hence the ordinary bell and spigot joint, caulked with lead, 
was substituted for the flanged joint in plumbing. It en- 
abled the plumber to cant the pipe in any direction, or to 

508 . 



Soil and Drain Pipes. 

revolve it on its axis to conform with the irregularities of 
the construction and fit every contour. 

But this joint is in every other respect the most bar- 
barous, expensive and unscientific device imaginable, and 
it is difficult to understand how it can have acquired the 
popularity it has. Only one of the new conditions imposed 
by plumbing has been met in this device ; the condition of 
flexibility in arrangement, as already described. But this 
condition has been met only at the sacrifice of others far 
more important. The caulked joint is neither tight nor 
permanent ; it cannot be made to resist water or gas under 
pressure, and it is soon destroyed by alterations of heat 
and cold in the pipes, such as is often produced by the pas- 
sage through them of hot water or steam. It is expensive 
both in time and material. It requires expert labor to ad- 
just, but defies expert labor to take it apart again without 
more or less destruction of the piping. Even the process 
of putting together involves a hammering which endangers 
the integrity of the pipe, and the most experienced and 
careful workman often cracks it in the process. 

The safe use of white enameled pipe is out of the ques- 
tion with the caulked joint, because the jarring produced 
by the caulking tool tends to crack the enamel. 

The bell or hub and spigot joint, however, is still used 
everywhere, and is perhaps found in nine-tenths of the 
plumbing work in buildings today. Its great importance 
therefore demands further careful and critical examina- 
tion. The use of the joint should be prohibited by law. 
In view of all its faults, and its great and undeserved 
ascendancy over mankind, it might be styled the King of 
Evil Joints. 

This joint is made usually with lead (the "Saturn" of the 
ancient alchemist, and the "Satan" of the modern plumber) 
and oakum or jute. A gasket of jute or similar fibre is 

509 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

inserted into the cavity of the bell or hub, and the spigot 
end of the length next above it is set firmly down upon it, 
or the gasket is rammed in with a tool after the lengths 
are set up. The gasket is used to prevent the lead from 
running out of the joint and obstructing the bore of the 
pipe at some point below, besides wasting the lead. 

The lead is now poured upon the gasket from a ladle, 
and shrinks as it cools. The caulking tool must then be 
used to expand it again and drive it into the cavities and 
pores of the iron. A faithful and skillful operator can, by 
perseverance, succeed in fitting the lead into the iron at all 
parts of its circumference, so as to make it light for a 
time, just as a painstaking dentist can drive the gold, by 
patient labor, into the cavities of a tooth and temporarily 
arrest its decay. But the process in both cases is slow and 
uncertain. The dentist confines his caulking to a single 
small spot, well within his reach, and he labors witn ex- 
traordinary care. Yet the filling often fails when put to 
the test, even though the mouth is not as a rule alternately 
subjected to such severe strains of expansion and con- 
traction produced by alternating heat and cold as in the 
iron piping. 

The plumber must work quickly over an extended field, 
often in awkward positions. He must perform a very 
delicate task with very clumsy tools. The metals to be 
welded together are often so placed that it is impossible, 
without the utmost skill and patience, to reach them prop- 
erly. The result is that when put to the test the joint 
almost always fails. The presence of the lead prevents 
the formation of a good rust joint. Extra heavy pipe and 
hubs are required to withstand the blows of the caulking 
tool. Lighter pipes cannot be made tight without danger 
of cracking the iron. I have made a number of tests on 
pipes of different thicknesses with the aid of an experienced 

510 



Soil and Drain Pipes. 

pipe layer and caulker. With double thick pipe, joints could 
be made which would stand the hydraulic test or a water 
pressure equal to that produced by such a test at the bot- 
tom of an average city house. Almost invariably a second 
caulking was found necessary after the plumber had care- 
fully done the work once in a manner which he considered 
sufficient, and had pronounced it completed. The single 
thick pipe could not be made to stand the water pressure 
test at all. It was cracked by the caulking iron before it 
had been made tight. Were the hydraulic test made, now 
often recommended to be applied to all the cast iron soil 
pipes set up within the last year in city houses, not one in 
a hundred would hold water. The experiments of Col. 
Waring and other authorities in this direction fully cor- 
roborate this statement. Col. Waring says: "I have re- 
cently had occasion to test the soil pipes of a large house 
of the best class, where the greatest effort was made to 
secure tight work, where the joints were so exposed that 
there was no difficulty in caulking them thoroughly, and 
where there was every reason to suppose that every joint 
was absolutely tight. On closing the outlets and filling 
the pipes with water the whole system leaked like a sieve." 

It is now generally acknowledged that a plumber's 
caulked joint is rarely either air or water tight, though a 
vast amount of lead and labor is spent on them to make 
them so. When we reflect that the sole aim and object of 
a soil pipe joint is to make a gas and water tight con- 
nection between pipes, we see that the method commonly 
employed is an absurdity and reflects little credit upon 
human ingenuity. 

Now the very persons who are loudest in their defense 
of cast iron hub and spigot piping, in spite of the acknowl- 
edged impossibility of making with it a single permanently 
tight joint throughout the entire building, are yet the most 

511 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

strenuous advocates of the costly special trap vent law. 

They accept the certainty of a hundred openings in the 
soil and drain pipe system, and yet subject the house owner 
to tremendous expense in applying an absolutely ineffective 
watch over a few trap seals, seals which with proper traps 
could not possibly be destroyed, even without the vent. 

The inconsistency is sufficiently glaring. 

Expansion and contraction in the iron piping caused by 
hot water or steam soon widens the original openings be- 
tween the lead and iron in the joints. The expansion of the 
spigot is in such cases greater than that of the hub 
because it is on the inside nearest the heat and comes 
directly in contact with it, while the hub is protected both 
by the spigot and the caulking. Hence the lead is tem- 
porarily compressed between the spigot and the hub, and, 
being inelastic, does not resume its original bulk when the_ 
pipes cool again. A minute opening is thus formed round 
the spigot, and the joint leaks. The opening may be very 
small, even microscopic, but it is sufficient to permit the 
still smaller particles of soil pipe air to freely pass, and 
when we reflect that the opening extends entirely round 
the pipe and is repeated at every joint in the building, the 
aggregate leakage becomes quite formidable. 

The longitudinal expansion and contraction of the soil 
pipe also affects, often still more seriously, the caulked 
joint. When a length of pipe contracts the spigot is drawn 
away from the hub of the adjoining pipe, and if the second 
pipe is held fast, the hub cannot follow it. The two must, 
therefore, separate slightly, and the movement draws the 
lead ring outwards with it. The spigot then returns again 
under the influence of expansion, but the lead ring does not 
necessarily return with it, but often remains protruding 
slightly from the socket, and the joint leaks. This process 

512 



Soil and Drain Pipes. 

may be repeated until the lead has been drawn out a con- 
siderable distance from its proper position. Every plumber 
knows how common a thing it is to find the lead thus 
protruding from the socket in the pipes which have been 
for a certain time in use in trying positions. 

The caulked joint is incapable of resisting any severe 
tensile strain which is often brought to bear upon it by the 
weight of any member of construction or by the settling 
of the house. The only thing which offers any resistance 
to such a strain is the small ring of lead between the two 
metals. This may be extremely feeble where but a small 
quantity of lead is used and the caulking has been spared. 

Another serious objection to this joint is the difficulty 
of disjointing pipes in which it has been used for altera- 
tions. The usual way to take out a pipe once so put to- 
gether is to break it to pieces, and then remove it by de- 
grees. . 

There is, in fact, no practicable alternative; for to melt 
off the lead would not only be expensive and dangerous, 
but involve the disjointing of quite a number of lengths 
of pipe in order to enable a single spigot to be lifted two 
inches, or enough to disengage it from its hub. Now, al- 
terations in buildings are necessarily so frequent that this 
objection becomes a serious one. 

The necessity of using fire in a house in process of con- 
struction for melting the lead necessary to make this joint 
is also a formidable objection to it, on account of the danger 
of igniting the surrounding carpenters' litter and burning 
down the house. 

No melted lead is required today in plumbing, brass 
screw jointed pipe being preferable. 

Still another very serious objection is the temptation 

513 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

this joint opens for fraud. The lead may be partially or 
even wholly omitted without very great risk of detection, 
since it is out of sight, and frequently immediately cov- 
ered by a coat of paint. The caulking may be still more 
easily slighted. If the hydraulic test is not demanded by 
the architect, a coat of paint or a little putty will easily 
make the joint stand the smoke or peppermint test. A few 
of the joints well within the reach of the house owner may 
be filled with genuine lead, while all those which are covered 
by floor boards, or are not easily accessible, may be com- 
posed of paper and sand and covered with putty. Possibly 
a thin coating of lead may be poured on top to present an 
honest appearance, and satisfy the suspicious and shrewd 
house owner who goes about probing the nearest joints 
with his penknife in order to ensnare the "rascally 
plumber." 

The "Sanitary Engineer" narrates a striking illustration 
of audacious fraud in the use of paper and sand joints, as 
follows 

"I cannot better describe it than to quote a conversation 
I recently had with a journeyman plumber who had been 
looking for employment. He said : T was looking for 
work, and went into a shop on Second or Third street — I 
am not sure which — and asked for a job. I was told that 
they needed no more help, and the clerk proceeded to in- 
form me that they had a man who was able to iron-pipe 
two ordinary three-story and basement houses in a day. 
I pretended to doubt this statement, when he said, "Why — 
bet the boss five dollars he could do it, and he did it and 
won the five dollars." I asked the man, who was standing 
by, how it was possible to even stick the lengths together, 
or even caulk them at all. He replied, "Oh, I just put a 
little paper in each joint, poured in some sand, and then 

514 



Soil and Drain Pipes. 

when the pipe was all up, I went over the job with my pot 
and ladle and poured a little lead on the front of each 
hub." : This frank admission fairly indicates the character 
of a great deal of work that has been done this summer in 
many parts of the city." 



515 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



The Bell and Spigot Joint. 




Our Figs. 444 
and 444a show a 
defective joint pro- 
duced by careless- 
ness, which is only 
another name for 
fraud. The jute 
has been driven 
beyond the end of 
the spigot, form- 
ing an obstruction 
to the waterway 
and the nucleus of 
a deposit which 
may ultimately 
choke up the 
drain. By careless 
packing of the jute, also, lead may be dropped through the 
crevices in the packing, and itself form an obstruction in 
the pipe. A large amount of lead is thus lost to the honest 
master plumber by his workman. 

Where putty is used over the jute packing instead of lead, 
rats and mice may eat away the putty, or it may be cracked 
by jars or settlements in the building, and an entrance for 
sewer air be thus opened. 

Loss of Water in Streets. 
Mr. Gerhard, in his excellent book, "Hints on the Drain- 



Pig. 444. 



516 



The Bell and Spigot Joint. 

age and Sewerage of Dwellings, " well says: "No other 
part of a common plumbing job shows so many defects as a 
stack of iron soil or waste pipe ; there is scarcely another 
detail in a system of drain pipes for a dwelling in which so 
much rascality or criminal stupidity is shown as in the 
manner of making joints in iron pipes, and this is especially 
the case whenever architects or builders tolerate such pipes 
to be built into walls, inasmuch as, under such circum- 
stances, defective joints are readily covered up and brought 
out of sight. The manner of applying the gaskets of 
oakum ; the quality of the melted lead ; its purity ; the tem- 
perature to which it is kept in the pot on the fire ; the 
manner of pouring the lead, and, finally, the operation of 
caulking it after shrinking — these are all details worthy of 
careful consideration, but, unluckily, seldom looked after 
in plumbing a dwelling. * * * It has been my personal 
observation that honest and conscientious plumbers — with 
the best possible intentions to do only first-class work — were 
frequently unable to caulk the lead of joints sufficiently 
tight without splitting the hub of the pipe. In other cases 
the joint could not be made tight owing to the impossibility 
of reaching all parts of the lead in a joint with the usual 
caulking tools, the soil pipe being located in a recess or 
partition." 

The only method of ascertaining whether pipes and joints 
are sound is to apply a pressure to them after they have 
been in use in the house long enough to insure their having 
been subjected to hot and cold water effects. Before such 
use the minute annular openings around the spigot due to 
expansion could not have been formed. To apply this pres- 
sure test when all the fixtures have been connected up and 
in use is inconvenient, and it is very difficult to find records 
of such tests having been made. The hydraulic test is 

517 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

probably the one most used where a strong pressure test 
is demanded, but this test is unscientific, because it brings 
too heavy a pressure to bear on the lower parts of the 
system and little or nothing at the top. Consequently, de- 
fects in the top stories, due to hot water influence on the 
caulking, would not receive the test desired and might easily 
escape detection. A thorough pneumatic test is much more 
scientific. 

The water supply mains for cities and towns in this coun- 
try and Europe are generally of cast iron with lead caulked 
hub and spigot joints. 

The American Architect for Jan. 13, 1900, has the fol- 
lowing in regard to these water mains : ''Accordingly, 
however, to Mr. James C. Bayles, whose authority as an 
expert can hardly be questioned, the leakage from water 
mains in cities is even more important than that from the 
gas mains. Few persons, probably, will be prepared for the 
assertion that at least half of all the water which enters 
the mains of the city water systems leaks out in the streets, 
never entering the houses at all ; yet in England, where the 
matter has been carefully investigated, it is found that in 
the majority of public waterworks the leakage in the mains 
is at least one-half the total supply ; that it is very fre- 
quently two-thirds, and that in many cases it is three- 
fourths, or even more ; while, according to the English re- 
port from which Mr. Bayles quotes, in America the loss is 
still greater ; that is, in many towns in England, and still 
more in America, three gallons of water are allowed to soak 
away into the streets for every gallon that is delivered in 
the houses of the consumers. Applying to this condition of 
affairs the same rule as that applicable to gas supply, the 
inference is that municipal water takers pay, in this coun- 
try, about four times as much for water as they would if 

518 



The Bell and Spigot Joint. 

the mains were properly laid. Officials of water boards 
understand this well enough, although, as Mr. Bayles says, 
every engineer and official connected with water supply 
seems to be sworn to conceal the facts in the case ; and he 
hints that the inspectors of houses for leaky fixtures and 
annoyances of the same sort are simply a solemn farce, in- 
tended to draw public attention away from the real source 
of waste." 

"Nine gas explosions recently occurred in the sewers of 
New York in one day, all caused by leakage from gas 
mains." In one of the largest American cities the leakage 
from the mains is known to have averaged eight hundred 
and seventy thousand cubic feet per year per mile of main. 
* * * It is probable that something like one-third of 
the gas delivered from the retorts is lost before it reaches 
the consumers, and millions of dollars must be paid every 
year by householders in our large cities for gas which they 
do not get, but which is expended in poisoning the atmos- 
phere which they breathe, and in endangering their lives 
and those of the public." 

The water mains should be housed in open tunnels as 
described in connection with sewers in these articles. 

The plumber naturally is not fond of applying the hy- 
draulic or other high pressure test, especially after fixtures 
have been connected up. He knows, in the first place, that 
a thorough pressure test will invariably betray a host of 
leaky joints and defective pipes, unless his work has been 
done with extraordinary care, and is attended with unus- 
ually good luck, and it is not every plumber that has as 
yet provided himself with the proper appliances for clos- 
ing all openings in a satisfactory manner in pipe and fix- 
tures. Thus, though a pressure test is, with cast iron 
pipe, of the utmost importance, architects find it exceed- 

519 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

ingly difficult to enforce its application. Where it is 
called for in the specification and its enforcement is ex- 
pected, the wise plumber raises considerably his figure in 
competition for the work. The hydraulic test requires 
an expense which plumbers can ill afford to incur. 

Speaking of the great importance of applying the pres- 
sure test, the "Metal Worker" says : "A pipe may be 
tight and apparently sound, yet of so thin a substance that 
the least pressure will destroy it or break it through. Joints 
may be tight at the moment, though barely filled with a 
thin coating of putty blown out almost at a single breath. 
Such pipes, thought tight for the moment, are not safe 
against the slightest pressure, and at any time may be liable 
to have their continuity broken by a slight jar. The longer 
we study this subject the more completely do we become 
convinced that the true remedy for this state of things 
is a test of the soil pipes by pressure. Scamping is so 
easily done, and is so difficult of detection, that it seems 
impossible to avoid it, even in the best jobs which may be 
constructed. A large proportion of the work is done in 
difficult situations, where the workman has every tempta- 
tion to save himself labor and discomfort, and in such situ- 
ations poor work is the rule rather than the exception. 
* * * The real objection to such a test is to be found 
in the fact that it calls for perfect workmanship through- 
out. It demands just what every house builder and house 
owner wishes to have, but just what it is very difficult to 
obtain from even the best plumbing establishments in the 
city. In gasfitting, which is much less difficult than plumb- 
ing work, no sane man would dare to trust a large job 
without carefully testing it under pressure." 

It is sometimes required in practice that each pipe used 
be tested for soundness at the foundry before coating them. 
The straight lengths can be tested under pressure more 

520 



The Bell and Spigot Joint. 

easily than the branches and bends. Hence the oil test is 
resorted to, and the strength or thickness of the pipe is not 
by this method made known. 

In order to save as many joints as possible these pipes 
are cast in rather long pieces. The attempts to cast pipe 
of small diameter, say of two, three or four inches, in the 
usual lengths of five feet result in a frequent serious in- 
equality in the thickness of the metal. 

I was obliged to make, at one time, a number of experi- 
ments on other kinds of cast iron jointing in connection 
with some researches on furnace and boiler construction. 
One of these furnaces, which was advertised by its builders 
to be absolutely gas tight, contained quite a number of 
joints. The owners claimed that so much care was bestowed 
on each joint that leakage was a sheer impossibility. I par- 
ticularly objected to the joints between the cast and wrought 
iron pipes in the construction, but the makers claimed that 
their method of jointing was peculiar and could not fail. 
"A fine new furnace* was exhibited to show the excellence 
of the workmanship. I still objected until challenged by 
the makers to give proof of any of the numerous furnaces 
put up by the company having ever leaked gas. Without 
taking the time to visit any or all of the 500 or more gentle- 
men whose letters of recommendation adorned the descrip- 
tive circular of the firm, I expressed myself satisfied if the 
fine new sample furnace then on exhibition would itself 
stand the test. 

"With the assurance that I was at liberty to make any 
reasonable test I pleased, I ordered the furnace to be turned 
over and water poured into it. To the complete astonish- 
ment of the proprietors and of the careful workmen stand- 



•"The Open Fireplace in All Ages," by J. P. Putnam. 

521 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

ing around, the water which had been poured in poured out 
again through nearly every one of the score of careful joints 
until the furnace seemed to dissolve and float away in its 
own tears." 

The lead caulked joint, when faithfully made, is very 
expensive in material and labor. The amount of lead re- 
quired for each joint, including waste, is estimated at about 
a pound for every inch in the diameter of the pipe. Thus 
an ordinary four-inch soil pipe, caulked, consumes four 
pounds of lead in each joint. The average length of time 
required by a skillful pipe layer to make a single joint is 
estimated at twenty minutes, not including, of course, the 
planning of the pipe system or the cutting and general ar- 
rangement of the pipe sections for their proper positions, a 
part of the work which has no connection with the kind 
of joints used. 

Another point which is defective is the direction in which 
the energy spent in caulking must be applied. The surfaces 
to be welded together, as it were, are at right angles with 
the power applied instead of being in a direct line with it, 
as it should be. Hence a great loss of energy is sustained, 
and in order to render it possible to apply power in suffi- 
cient quantity to do the work it must be applied successively 
at small portions of the joint at a time instead of simulta- 
neously over the whole. From this results a loss of time, 
and the peculiar form of the hub renders it necessary that 
the caulking be done through the medium of a tool by hand, 
which increases the loss both of time and energy. The 
edge of the tool cannot be made to fit exactly the space 
between the bell and spigot, but must be considerably 
smaller in order to allow for variations of casting and set- 
ting. Hence it acts like a blunt chisel, partially embedding 
itself in the lead at each blow of the hammer instead of ex- 

522 



The Bell and Spigot Joint. 

erting a uniform pressure exactly at the points desired. 
The proper use of the tool under these circumstances re- 
quires considerable skill on the part of the workman, and, 
as the effectiveness of the caulking depends much upon 
the manner in which the tools are handled, the quality of 
the joint is largely dependent upon the skill of the operator, 
whereas it should evidently be entirely independent of skill, 
the required degree of skill not being always at hand and 
being more expensive when obtained than machine power 
scientifically applied. A still further loss of energy is ac- 
cordingly sustained, inasmuch as it is contrary to the theory 
of chances that, even presupposing the most perfect skill 
of manipulation, the precise position and direction best 
suited to the varying conditions of the metals to be welded, 
should be given to the caulking iron at every blow. From 
these conditions we deduce the following law regarding the 
form of pipe joints, namely: 

(i) The joint should be so constructed that the power 
required for its formation may be applied to the best ad- 
vantage, and its application should be independent of spe- 
cial skill on the part of the workman. 

Instead of filling the joint with lead, it has been sug- 
gested to use some alloy which expands in cooling. But 
this would still be open to the objection of losing its hold 
after compression due to the expansion of the spigot by 
heat, or to the longitudinal expansion of the soil pipe by 
the same agency, and, moreover, most of the alloys that 
expand on cooling are too expensive. Old type metal is 
perhaps one of the cheapest alloys which has been sug- 
gested for this purpose, but the antimony it contains renders 
it too hard and brittle. Belvidere bronze or Spence's metal, 
an alloy of iron and sulphur, has been tried in England. 
It is also brittle, and has the additional disadvantage of re- 

523 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

quiring the pipes to be heated to insure its running all 
around the hub. 

Mr. Gerhard, in his "Sanitary Engineering of Buildings," 
gives formulae for a quick and for a slow setting iron 
cement to take the place of lead. The former is composed of 
98 parts fine cast iron borings, 
1 part flowers of sulphur, 
1 part sal ammoniac, 
to be mixed with boiling water before use. The latter is 
composed of 

197 parts fine cast iron borings, 

1 part of flowers of sulphur. 

2 parts sal ammoniac. 

The writer finds the rust joint rarely satisfactory, being 
brittle and soluble in water. 

More recently, a patented compound of steel and iron, 
with other ingredients, called "Smooth on Joints," has been 
introduced, which is made up by the plumber into a paste 
without using heat and used in the pipe joints, where it 
soon solidifies and hardens. This compound, it is true, 
possesses the great incidental advantage that it does away 
with the necessity of plumbers' melting pots and furnaces 
in non-fireproof buildings, and therefore removes the dan- 
ger of fire, but it is not waterproof, a very serious defect. 

The writer has made a great many experiments with rust 
joints and a great variety of cement joints made with vari- 
ous compounds. They are usually unsatisfactory, especially 
when made by ordinary mechanics after published formulae, 
either on account of their great solubility in water, their 
gradual disintegration after standing for considerable 
lengths of time, their great brittleness, or their slow setting. 

We find that the ordinary hand caulked hub and spigot 
joint possesses only one of all the desiderata necessary for 

524 



The Bell and Spigot Joint. 

an ideal joint. It is unreliable, incapable of resisting the 
effects of expansion and contraction, or heavy strains, re- 
quires unusual skill in its formation, affords every oppor- 
tunity for fraud by covering up the traces which might lead 
to its detection, and it is expensive. It is compact, and has 
some facility in conforming to the irregularities of the struc- 
ture for which it is intended, but even in this respect it 
leaves much to be desired. 

If now we examine the form of this joint from a scientific 
standpoint with a view to determining the principles which 
give rise to its failure, we shall arrive at the following con- 
clusion: Its inability to resist changes of temperature is 
due to the fact that the bell and spigot are so placed rela- 
tively to each other and to the interior of the pipe that they 
cannot be equally affected by changes of temperature, from 
within or from without ; while the packing is so placed that 
when the pipe is heated, say from within, it is obliged at 
every point of its circumference to receive the full compres- 
sion due to the excess of expansion of the entire diameter 
of the spigot over that of the bell. In other words, the 
smallest dimension of the packing ring is obliged to receive 
nearly the entire variation of size of the largest dimension 
of the spigot. The thickness of the ring is reduced by the 
expansion of nearly the entire diameter of the spigot, and 
owing to the absence of the property of elasticity in lead, 
the reduction in the thickness of packing ring is perman- 
ent while the alteration in the size of the spigot is only 
temporary. From this consideration we deduce the fol- 
lowing laws with regard to the form of pipe joints : 

(2) No bell and spigot joint having packing between the 
bell and spigot is capable of withstanding the effects of the 
lateral expansion and contraction of the pipes unless the 
packing has an elasticity sufficient to restore the alterations 
in its thickness produced by the difference of expansion and 

525 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

contraction of the entire diameter of the spigot over that 
of the bell. 

(3) No doubt even a defective joint will in time take up 
under certain conditions enough sewage and rust to enable 
it to withstand a very limited amount of air and water pres- 
sure and appear sound. But such a joint is not a lead but 
a dirt or grease joint, which is a highly unscientific and 
undesirable formation. It is no recommendation to a pipe 
joint that it can only be made air and water tight after it 
has become filled with sewage, and it is well known that on 
all buildings where steam or very hot water are liable to 





444a. 



Fig-. 445. 



be run through the piping, even dirt will not render the 
joints tight. 

Fig. 445 represents a form of bell and spigot joint de- 
vised with a view to keep the lead from being drawn out 
of the socket by the longitudinal expansion and contraction 
of the pipe. The socket has internal annular grooves for 
the purpose, and a pour hole for the lead. A sleeve of 
lead is also pushed down to the bottom of the socket to 
keep the yarn or jute out of the pipes. These refinements 
fail to remove even the minor objections to the bell and 
spigot joint, and increase the cost and labor. The groove 
in the socket increases the cost of casting without in any 
way preventing the caulking from being worked loose by 
the expansion and contraction of the pipe. It undoubtedly, 



526 



The Bell and Spigot Joint. 

however, retards the lead from protruding from the bell 
under the influence of a longitudinal play of the pipes. 

Figs. 446 and 447 give another form of bell and spigot 
joint devised with the same end in view, but in this case 
the pressure for caulking is applied at an opening in the 
side. A groove is formed around the spigot end of the pipe 
and a corresponding groove around the inside of the socket, 
and these grooves, coming opposite one another when the 
spigot of one pipe is placed in the socket of the other, form 




Fig. 449. 



Fig. 450. 



Fig. 451. 



together an angular chamber into which the melted lead is 
poured through the opening or gate in the socket. The 
caulking is intended to be done by an iron mandril driven 
into the gate. It is probable that by this process the caulk- 
ing would not be made tight at the points most distant from 
the gate. 

Figs. 448, 449 and 450 show bell and spigot joints caulked 
by using cold lead rings forced in place by hammering. In 
the first figure the outer surface of the spigot end of the 

527 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

pipe may be cylindrical or wedge-shaped, tapering towards 
the body of the pipe, and having grooves or depressions 
formed round the part which enters the socket of the ad- 
joining pipe. The extremity of the spigot is of less diameter 
than the rest of it, thus forming a shoulder to abut against 
the shoulder inside the pocket. The socket has a groove or 
depression formed internally, and at their inner end a dou- 
ble shoulder for the shoulder and end of the spigot to rest 
upon. A band of lead, wedge-shaped or tapering, is in- 
serted between the spigot and the socket, and is forced in 
from the outside by hammering or by other means ; the 
lead thus may be made to fill the grooves or depressions 
respectively on the socket and on the surface of the spigot 
in order to form a tight joint. An India rubber, or other 
elastic packing ring, may be used in combination with lead. 

In Figs. 448 and 450 the lead may be used either cold or 
melted as desired. The socket at the lower part is made 
only large enough to just receive the spigot. Above it is 
enlarged enough to hold the lead packing. An internal an- 
nular groove is formed on this part to better secure the 
lead. The packing is either run in, as is usual, in a molten 
state, or by winding a lead wire several times round the 
spigot, and afterwards caulking it in the same manner with 
the molten lead packing. The end of the spigot is rounded 
internally to prevent abrasion of electric wires when the 
pipe is used for their conveyance. 

Finally, Fig. 451 shows a bell and spigot joint devised 
for thin wrought-iron pipes, to be caulked in the usual man- 
ner. One end of each pipe is bell mouthed for the reception 
of the spigot end. A ring or sleeve is driven over the bell 
mouth so as to bring one edge of the ring about even with 
the edge of the bell mouth. This is then hand caulked in 
the usual manner. 

528 



The Bell and Spigot Joint. 

Machine Caulked Bell and Spigot Joints. 
Figs. 452 and 453 represent a joint caulked by hydrostatic 
pressure. This form of bell and spigot joint, though subject 
to the objections already described as inherent in this class 
of joints, is nevertheless free from the difficulties of hand 
caulking. In the interior of the bell a groove is cast (Fig. 
452) about one-half an inch square in cross-section, with 
rounded corners, and within it is a cast lead ring or gasket 
flush with the interior surface of the bell. A clear space of, 
say, one-eighth of an inch all around is allowed between the 
spigot and the bell for easy entrance. The end of the 
spigot is thickened. It is guided into a concentric position 




Fig-. 452. 



Fig-. 453. 




Fig". 454. 



with the bell by the conical or tapering form of the interior 
of the latter. When the sections are entered, a forcing jack 
is screwed into a threaded opening in the bell, and a thick, 
semi-fluid material is thereby forcibly injected into the open- 
ing, finding its way between the lead gasket and the bottom 
of the groove, partially displacing the gasket therefrom, and 
forcing it into tight contact with the spigot at all points of 
its circumference. The forcing jack is then removed and a 
screw plug inserted. 

By this method of caulking the power is scientifically and 
uniformly, if not directly, applied, and by the use of an enor- 
mous hydrostatic pressure. A temporary tight joint may 



529 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

be obtained without the need of manual skill. All the lead 
is utilized, none being wasted, as in hand caulking, and no 
lead melting on the spot is required. 

The forcing jack is strong and simple, weighing about 
fifty pounds, and can be managed by a single ordinary 
workman. The forcing material is coal tar pitch, thickened 
with whiting and sand, or with clay and coarse iron borings. 

Inasmuch as the pressure is applied only at a single point 
on the circumference of the bell, the caulking is greatly 
facilitated in contracted places. This method of caulking 
requires but a small proportion of the labor of the hand 
made joint, much less lead, and does away with the need of 
oakum. But, of course, the joint will not stand hot water 
or steam, because no ring of lead surrounding a pipe will 
return again to close contact after enlargement. 

Fig. 453 shows a somewhat improved form of this joint. 
The most conspicuous difference between the two forms is 
that there is no groove in the bell, but instead the groove is 
made in the gasket itself as shown in the drawing. The 
gasket lies in a double inclined seat in the bell, and comes 
flush and level inside. When the forcing compound is in- 
jected the effect is to force the two wedge-shaped sections 
of the gasket apart, driving each into its seat firmly and 
solidly. The power is thus used to better advantage, it be- 
ing applied to forcing the gasket into the inclined spaces 
between the spigot and the bell. The lead caulked bell and 
spigot joint, however, being radically defective in principle, 
a refinement in the machinery for caulking is not worth 
while. 

The Rubber Ring Joint. 

Rubber joints, or those in which rubber gaskets are used 
between the bell and spigot, may be made tight as long as 
the rubber retains its life and elasticity. The gaskets are 

530 



Soft Packing Joint. 

made of vulcanized India rubber, cylindrical in section, so 
that they will easily roll when slipped on the end of the pipe. 
But to procure India rubber well cured and of good quality 
is difficult and costly, and the material has not been used 
for joints to any great extent in this country. 

Fig. 454 shows this kind of joint. The spigot has a ring 
or shoulder on its end, and a groove just within the ring. 
The rubber ring is stretched over the shoulder and placed 
in the groove. A second shoulder collar is cast on the 
spigot beyond the groove, to prevent the rubber from being 
blown off under high pressure. The rubber ring is forced 
up to this shoulder when the pipes are put together. 

Soft Packing Joint. 

Under this heading are included all joints packed with 
red lead, putty, cement or other material which is plastic 
when applied. Joints well made with red lead may be made 
tight against pressure, when used in connection with the 
proper form of couplings as in screw-jointed pipes. 

Sulphur and pitch joints have been made with a compo- 
sition consisting of equal parts of these substances. This 
composition is used to some extent in the arts for making 
joints analogous to those in soil pipes. 

Fig. 455 gives another form of soft packing joint. Neither 
of these joints is capable of withstanding the hydraulic test, 
however long they may be allowed to set. The joint con- 
sists of a double socket. Near one end of the pipe, and 
around the outside, a cupped or recessed collar is formed, 
which, with the continuation of the pipe, forms a socket. 
The joint is made by forcing the projecting inner ring of 
the first socket into the socket of the following length, un- 
til it butts tight against a shoulder formed inside of the 
small socket. The outer ring of the smaller socket then en- 
ters the larger socket, forming, with the packing, the joint. 

531 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Fig. 456 shows a third form. This joint is, however, de- 
signed more particularly for use with earthenware pipes. A 
tapering ring of plaster of Paris or cement is cast on the 
end of the spigot, by the use of carefully turned moulds. 
The socket end has a corresponding ring cast on its internal 
surface to exactly fit the ring on the spigot. 

The ends of the pipe are then covered with coal tar, 
grease, tallow, paraffine, or other suitable varnish or lubri- 
cating material, and inserted one within the other. The 
joint is dependent upon the accuracy of the fit of the two 
ends to render it air and water tight. 

Fig. 457 represents a bell and spigot joint with soft pack- 
ing in which bolts are used to hold the joint together and 





Fig. 455. Fig. 456. 

compress the packing. A collar is slipped over the spigot 
end of the pipe before the spigot is inserted into the socket. 
Part of this collar is to enter the mouth of the socket 
and compress the packing therein. Any suitable means can 
be employed for forcing and keeping the collar against the 
packing. By using loose sockets and collars plain pipes may 
be jointed in this manner. 

Fig. 458 illustrates a soft packing joint put together by 
threaded rings. The socket end of the pipe is cast with an 
external screw thread, and has an internal annular projec- 
tion near its end. A nut or collar is screwed on the socket 
by means of a projecting rim. The spigot, covered with a 
packing ring, is slipped into the socket. The collar, having 

532 



Soft Packing Joint. 

been previously slipped over the spigot is then screwed on 
the socket, and the annular projection on the collar squeezes 
the packing into the socket against the projecting rim. a 

The annular projection on the end of the spigot is in- 
tended to prevent the accidental withdrawal of the pipe 
from the socket. Between the packing ring and the bottom 
of the socket, there is sufficient space to allow the spigot a 
certain amount of longitudinal play. 

Figs. 459, 460 and 461 represent one more soft packing 
joint. The object of this device is to form a plumber's 
joint on cast iron pipes, without caulking and without turn- 





Fig. 457. 



Fig. 4 58. 



Fig. 459. 



ing, threading or finishing the ends of the pipes, but using 
them rough as they come from the foundry. One end of 
the pipe has a double annular shoulder cast upon it a short 
distance from the end ; the other end has a smaller single 
annular shoulder cast at the extreme end of the pipe, and at 
the outer edge of the shoulder a small annular projection. 
A ring of metal is placed on the second or outer shoulder 
of the end of the lower pipe to be joined, which has the 
double shoulder uppermost. This ring forms with the end 
of the pipe a triangular or wedge-shaped annular groove, 
which is then filled with packing in the groove, and forms 
the joint. The packing consists of a rust joint paste. The 



>33 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

pipes are brought together by means of screws passing 
through lugs or ears on the detachable rings as shown. The 
contrivance allows either pipe to be turned on its axis in any 
direction when setting it and it forms a rigid steam tight 
joint when the packing hardens. This is an early device of 
the writer, but is too complicated, and it would be better 
to omit the spigot projection on the upper pipe annular 
ring, because then the pipes could be disconnected at any 
time by removing the bolts and breaking the outer ring. 





Fisr. 4G0. 



Fig. 461. 



Machine Turned Bell and Spigot Joint with Lugs 
and Bolts. 

This joint (Fig. 462) is for cast iron pipe, and has a 
tapered opening in the hub end and a corresponding tapered 
spigot on the opposite end, but slightly larger in diameter so 
that after it enters a hub, power is required to draw them 
together, and this power is applied by means of bolts until 
the beveled surfaces have been forced into positive contact. 
To prevent corrosion some anti-rust mixture, such as 
plumbago or red lead, is specified to be smeared over the 
machined surfaces of the joint immediately before putting 
together. This joint is quickly set up and requires no lead 
melting. It is claimed to be tight under light or heavy 

534 



Machine Turned Joint. 



pressure, and even to admit of some slight play at the joint. 
It is called the "Universal" joint, and is made by the Cen- 
tral Foundry Co. of N. Y. 

It is a little difficult to see how any flexibility is to be ob- 
tained with this joint under pressure without the use of 
some form of soft packing which when the spigot end of a 
pipe is slightly rotated in the hub end might be forced by 




the internal pressure of the liquid or gas they convey into 
the cavity opened by the rotation. But this the makers do 
not use. Nor is it clear to one who has not had experience 
with this new joint, how a longitudinal contraction of the 
pipes can take place under change of temperature without 
opening up the joint slightly and allowing of leakage under 
pressure. The manufacturers make very strong claims for 
it in this respect and if they prove to be justified the "Uni- 

535 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

versal" joint cannot be too highly praised. It remains to 
be ascertained what the effect of age in corroding the joint 
or hardening the anti-rust mixture will be in the matter of 
leakage under shocks or bending strains. 

The joint seems to be, however, immeasurably superior 
to a lead caulked bell and spigot joint, and shares with the 
threaded joint in immunity from injurious effects of elec- 
trolysis. 

Fig. 462a is another machine turned joint forming a 
ball and socket joint by the use of which pipes can be laid 
at an angle of several degrees out of alignment either way. 




Fig. 462-a. 

But once made up the joint is rigid. Nevertheless it would 
seem to be possible to set this ball and socket joint in such 
a manner as to secure a certain degree of rotary flexibility 
without leakage, but longitudinal strains could not be pro- 
vided for in it. The tunnel and ground surfaces could be 
coated with graphite or other anti-rust lubricating com- 
pound, and the outer space, shown in solid black in the draw- 
ing, filled with melted lead. The lead would prevent the 
pipes from being drawn apart under mild strains, and flexi- 
bility could for a time be attained. 

The joint is intended, however, to be used as a rigid rust 

536 



Machine Turned Joint. 

joint, with the outer lead ring for a key to prevent sep- 
aration. This joint seems to the writer to be far superior 
to any ordinary lead caulked bell and spigot joint. When 
the space between the metal to be joined is small so that 
the ends of the pipes are nearly or quite in contact a rust 
joint has its best chance for success. Such a joint however 
is objected to by many plumbers, says Bayles, because it be- 
comes so rigid that it cannot be taken apart again without 
destroying it. 




Fig. 462b. 

Fig. 4626 is a turned rust joint. It is made by turning 
the inside of the hub and the outside of the spigot to tit 
each other. 

It has the disadvantages of all rust joints already referred 
to. 



537 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



(n.) The Flange Joint. 




Fig. 4 63. 



Fig. 464. 



Flange joints are those 
which are made- with 
flanges forming bearings 
for bolts or clamps, by 
means of which the pipes 
are secured together. Our 
first example is : 

(a) The Spigot and 
Socket flange joint rep- 
resented in Figs. 463 and 
464. The pipes are here 
made with circular flanges, one having an annular groove 
on one end, and the other a corresponding annular projec- 
tion or spigot, both being slightly beveled. The flanges 
have four or more slots in their periphery at uniform dis- 
tances apart. A suitable packing ring, usually of lead, is 
placed in the groove and compressed by screwing up the 
bolts which pass through the slots. The ordinary steam- 
fitters' flanged joint differs from this in having plain level 
surfaces without groove or spigot. The steam-fitters' pack- 
ing consists of paper, leather, rubber, or composition rings 
with or without putty, red lead or other filling. The sur- 
face of the flanges is for the best work, planed off, to give 
proper tightness, and instead of slots, holes are usually used 
to take the bolts. These kinds of joints are unsuitable for 
plumbing purposes, because they are not adjustable and 
do not admit of slight variation in direction of the piping, 
as is absolutely necessary in plumbing work. The machine 



538 



The Flange Joint. 

planing of the steam-fitters' flanged pipes, moreover, in- 
volves too great an expense to render the joint practicable 
for plumbing purposes. 

Figs. 465, 466 and 467 show a joint devised with a view 
to overcoming the first of the above-mentioned objections 




Fig. 467. 

to the ordinary flange-joint. On each side of the pipe are 
cast curved projections or collars extending only partially 
round its circumference. A flanged collar, recessed to cor- 
respond with the curved projections, is slipped over the 
end of each pipe and turned partly round behind the pro- 
jections. The flanges are thus held securely on the pipe, 

539 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

which may be adjusted in a variety of positions. An an- 
nular connecting piece, recessed to receive packing rings, 
is placed between the pipes to be joined. These connecting 
pieces are made with one or both faces at any desired angle 
to the bore of the pipes. A short portion at each end of 
the pipes is made somewhat thicker than the main length, 
so that at the extreme ends a wider surface of metal is 
obtained for the packing ring to rest against. Fig. 467 
shows the same joint with the bevelled connecting pieces to 
give a change of direction to the piping. 

There are several objections to this form of joint. The 




Fig. 468. 

slotted collars occupy too much space and are liable to be 
easily broken in screwing the pipes together, especially at 
those points where the flange is weakened by the bolt hole 
and yet has no support immediately below. Moreover, the 
arrangement, though allowing a certain amount of play 
of the pipes in adjusting them, still limits their movement 
and would cause considerable annoyance in handling. The 
very long bolts are expensive and awkward. The heads 
and nuts do not rest square on their bearings when the 
bevelled connecting rings are used. The bolts are, there- 
fore, easily broken in screwing up, as I have found in 
experimenting upon them in this connection, unless bevelled 
washers are used, which still further increases the cost, 

540 



The Flange Joint. 

Moreover, lead for packing is entirely unsuitable, since 
longitudinal expansion of the pipes will compress the lead, 
and subsequent contraction will then leave an annular 
opening for the escape of air or water. 

Fig. 468 gives another form of flange joint devised with 
the same end in view. At one end of each length of pipe is 
a cone-shaped socket, having at opposite sides two lateral 
projecting lugs with bolt holes. On the other end of the 
pipe, which is plain, is placed a loose flanged collar which 
has bolt holes to coincide with the holes in the lugs of the 





Fig. 469. 



Fig. 470. 



Fig. 471. 



socket, into which the end or neck of the collar is free to 
enter. A packing ring of India-rubber, hemp, or other 
elastic compressible substance, is placed on the end. The 
neck of the collar is then slid forward into the socket, and 
is brought to bear upon the packing by means of bolts, 
which are passed through the bolt holes. The joint is 
neither permanent nor tight under pressure. Moreover, 
it offers no resistance to longitudinal strain under which the 
two pipes might be drawn apart. If lead is used as a pack- 

541 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

ing it would be compressed by both longitudinal and lateral 
expansion by heat and upon cooling again leakage is caused. 

(b) The Spherical Flange Joint. 
Figs. 469, 470 and 471 show another device for variable 
adjustment of the pipes. The parts at the points of 
junction are of spherical form, and the parts of the 
spheres where the junction takes place are inclined, by 
preference, to an angle of 45 degrees with the axis of the 
pipes, and are fitted with suitable packing and bolted as 
shown. This form of joint is evidently unsuitable for 
plumbing purposes. Should the bolt be made to pass 
through the center of the pipes, as shown in the last four 
figures, it would form an obstruction to the flow of the 






Fig. 472. Fig. 473. Fig. 474. 

sewage. If, on the other hand, the bolts are made to pass 
through the flanges, the amount of possible variation of 
adjustment would be limited to the number of holes made 
in the flanges, and the piercing of these holes would not 
only add to the expense in proportion to their number, but 
also weaken the flange. Another serious objection lies in 
the sewage fouling caused by the spherical sockets. 

(c) The Loose Ring Flange Joints. 

Around each end of the pipes to be jointed is formed a 

projecting annular flange or rib of rectangular sections, 

474 and 475. A band of rubber is placed over the joint and 

upon this band a cast-iron collar or belt in two halves. The 

542 



The Flange Joint. 

edges of the iron band turn inwards so as to form shoulders 
on each side of the rubber band to protect them. The joint 
is perishable and unreliable under pressure. 

Figs. 476 and 477 represent another form of the same 
kind of joint. The pipes are formed with a bevelled flange. 
A rubber ring is used, as before, as packing, but the ring 
is placed between the ends of the pipes instead of around 
the joint. The metallic ring which holds the pipes together 
is double-wedge shaped in sections and slotted so as to allow 
it to be passed over the flanges. A bolt with a wedge- 
shaped head is used to hold the whole in place. 





Fig. 475. Fig. 476. Fig. 477. 

(d) The Wedge and Key Flange Joint. 
The flanges are here, Figs. 478, 479 and 480, connected by 
means of dove-tailed wedges or cotters and keys, instead of 
the ordinary bolts and nuts. Instead of the ordinary slotted 
openings, which are usually formed in the flange at each end 
of the pipe for the connecting bolts, the openings have a 
dove-tailed form as shown in plan Fig. 480. When the faces 
of the flanges, with their intermediate packing, are placed in 
position to be connected, dove-tailed cotters or wedges are 
passed through the dove-tail opening in the flanges, in the 
direction of the length of the pipes, and drawn up tight by 
keys driven through slotted holes in their ends. This con- 
struction is too bulky, inflexible and complicated for plumb- 
ing. 

543 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

(e) The Plain Non-Adjustable Flange Joint. 
(Fig. 481.) 
The flanges of the joint used for illustration have on 
their meeting surfaces annular grooves, circular or other- 
wise, to receive a packing ring, similar in form and com- 
posed of vulcanized India-rubber, hemp, or other suitable 
elastic material. The grooves of the flanges must be of 
corresponding size, so that one-half portion of a packing 
ring may lie and be compressed in each when the flanges 



1 

r ^ 




LSI u_ 


J 









Fig. 478. 



Fig. 479. 



Fig. 480. 



are drawn together. The object of the grooves is to prevent 
lateral derangement of the packing ring under the influence 
of steam or water pressure in the pipes. The flanges of this 
joint are sometimes square with rounded corners, instead 
of round, and in the corners are the holes for the connecting 
bolts. This joint is also inflexible and unsuitable for 
plumbing work. The packing intended to be used with it 
would soon lose its elasticity, and would occasion a leak 
when the pipes expanded and contracted longitudinally. 
Moreover, the annular space inside of the packing ring is 
an objectionable feature as forming shoulders on which 



544 



The Flange Joints. 

matters passing through the pipes might adhere and cause 
stoppages. 

(in.). The Sleeve Joint. 

The object of the sleeve joint is to form a connection be- 
tween pipes having plain ends without flanges, hubs, thread- 
ing or projections of any kind. The first division under 
this class: 




Fig. 481. 





Figs. 483 and 484. 




(a) The lead packing sleeve joint illustrated in Figs. 
483 and 484. This joint was devised for use with wrought 
iron pipes, in which it was desired to form connections like 
those on ordinary cast iron bell and spigot pipes and avoid 
weakening the pipe by thread cutting. It produces an 
even, smooth interior of the same diameter with the pipe, 
and could be made to form in part a rust joint. The lugs 
or rivets on the ends of the pipe engage in the recesses in 
the couplings and form a resistance to longitudinal strain. 
The joint is intended to have packing introduced, but the 
space is too contracted on the outside to permit of caulking. 



545 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

It is a form of bayonet joint. It has no flexibility to facili- 
tate setting and would be unsuitable for plumbing work. 

Fig. 485 shows a lead packed joint designed to be made 
with lead in its cold state, aided by cement. The joint is 
somewhat complicated and difficult to make. It is com- 
posed of a leaden ring of peculiar construction, two cast 
iron coupling rings, cement for solidifying the joint, and 
a hoop for covering the coupling rings. The leaden ring 
is a band of milled or rolled sheet lead with a groove in the 
center. To join the rings, the band is cut to the length 
corresponding with the outer circumference of the pipes to 
be connected. It is then bent into the form of a ring, and 
the two ends are soldered or burned together by means of 
a blowpipe. The ring is placed over the ends of the pipes 
and pressed tightly against it by light blows of a hammer, 
or by means of a metallic band with pincers, or by a cramp 
in such a manner that the lead shall be thoroughly embedded 
in the pipe. 

In the groove in the leaden ring temporary sheet iron 
discs, formed in two parts and held together by hooks, are 
then placed. The two coupling rings are then pushed 
against the disc, which by resisting allows of and facilitates 
the junction, at the same time preventing the groove from 
being flattened or closed. The junction being completed, 
the disc is removed and the outer hoop is placed over the 
whole, and cement is put in the empty spaces between the 
coupling rings and the pipes beyond the lead ring. 

The groove in the leaden ring is designed for the purpose 
of giving a certain flexibility to the joint, and allowing 
of expansion and contraction of the pipes, and I introduce 
it on account of its ingenuity and to illustrate the pains 
taken in the effort to overcome the destructive effect on 
lead packing by expansion and contraction. 

546 



The Sleeve Joint. 



The method here tried is ineffective, and the joint is 
open to all the objections of the ordinary lead caulked bell 
and spigot joint. 

Figs. 486 and 487 represent a sleeve joint in which rub- 
ber is used for packing. A hollow cylinder or shell is con- 
structed of brass or iron, and has belts cast upon it for 
additional strength. The ends are bevelled or inclined 
inwards towards the pipe, so as to contract the opening for 





Fig. 486. 




Fig. 487. 



Fig. 488. 



Fig. 489. 



the insertion of the pipe, and to form recesses into which 
are forced annular conical India-rubber rings or other 
similar packings. These rings or packings are so formed 
that when internal pressure is applied they press against 
the contracted ends of the cylinder to give rigidity to the 
joint, but when flexibility is desired, the webs are omitted. 
Fig. 488 shows one side of a pipe having a cold lead 
packing ring. The pipe is shown partly in elevation and 



547 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the packing and clamping rings in section. The ends of 
the pipes are here provided with slight enlargements or 
collars. A strip of lead, shaped to fit the enlarged ends, 
and having a central rib underneath to project into a space 
left between the ends of the pipes, is lapped around so as 
to embrace the ends of the pipes. A circular band or col- 
lar is then tightened round the lead by a "press collar," 
and finally all is secured by binding rings. The ends of 
the pipes abut against the central rib of the lead and 
prevent shifting of the packing when the binding rings are 
driven on. These rings are formed to fit the outer surface 




Fig. 490 



of the pipe, in order that their binding pressure may be 
equally distributed. 

Fig. 489 shows a sleeve joint in which the ends of the 
pipe are grooved or corrugated and connected by means 
of a lead ring compressed into the corrugations. This lead 
ring is of double conical form externally, and has at the 
middle of its length an internal annular rib which forms 
an abutment for the ends of the pipes to be coupled. The 
joint is completed by forcing over the opposite ends of 
the leaden sleeve conical clamping rings, which, when 
driven home by means of a hammer or cramp, will compress 
the lead into the annular grooves. Collars, brackets or ears 

548 



The Sleeve Joint. 

may be cast on the pipes at some little distance from the 
ends, to prevent injury to the joint or pipe in ramming 
the earth about it when it is used under ground. 

In all these lead packed joints the same weakness is in- 
herent. They fail under expansion and contraction of the 
pipes, the corrugations forming no more protection in re- 
straining this force than a rope of sand. 

Figs. 490 and 491 show a sleeve joint in which a rubber 
band is used for packing, secured by means of an elastic 
metallic strap. The India-rubber in a broad band is made 
to embrace the two ends of the pipes. Over the band is 
then placed a metallic strap, which is drawn together by 
means of screws or wedges. The tightening of the strap 





Fig. 492. 



Fig. 493. 



Fig. 494. 



forces the India-rubber band into a number of annular 
grooves with which the strap or ends of the pipe are fur- 
nished. 

Figs. 492 and 493 show a joint similar to the last, except 
that a small bead is formed on the ends of the pipes, and 
the sleeve is bevelled, or wider on one side than on the 
other, to enable the pipes to be connected on an angle. 
The edges of the metallic collar used to compress and hold 
the rubber packing sleeve are turned down, as shown, so 
as to bring the packing close down over the beads. The 



549 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

collar is strained on by means of a bolt and nut, in the 
same manner with that in the joint preceding. 

Fig. 494 shows a sleeve joint for cement or melted lead 
packing. A movable or shifting sleeve or jacket is placed 
over the ends of the pipes, and has openings for the in- 
troduction of the packing. The ends of the pipes are 
grooved, and corresponding grooves are cast on the inside 
of the sleeve. These are intended to protect the pipes from 
longitudinal movement. The joint is bulky and expensive. 

Divided Ring Sleeve Joint. 
Figs. 495, 496 and 497 represent a sleeve joint connected 
by means of half rings bolted together. The general prin- 



w=a 




Figs. 495, 496 and 497 



ciple of this consists in lapping soft leaden or metallic pack- 
ing round the meeting ends of the pipes, and forcing this 
packing into intimate contact with the surface of a screw 
clip or hinged collar, the pipe ends externally, and the pack- 
ing internally, having annular grooves and ribs, which re- 
spectively bed the ribs on the pipes into the grooves in the 
packing, and vice versa, when the hinged collar or clip is 
temporarily closed around them by a screw. The collar 
is afterwards removed, and a hoop of wrought iron, conical 

550 



The Sleeve Joint. 



internally, is driven on over the lead. Instead of using the 
lead alone, India rubber may be used in connection there- 
with ; the lead packing may be made conical, to correspond 
with the collar and hoop, and the annular grooves and ribs 
on the pipe ends may, of course, have an endless variety 
of shapes. 

The use of divided rings and bolts enables the joint to be 
easily disconnected at any time. 

In Fig. 498 the ends of the pipes have formed on them 
annular ribs or projections with intermediate grooves, and 
over these ends a vulcanized India rubber belt is compressed 
by means of a metallic collar made in halves, and bolted 



V, 

\ 


■ ■» - —*" 




1 




^5 


i 




1 







Fig. 498. 



Fig:. 498-b. 



Fig. 498-c. 



as shown. The collar has corrugations corresponding with 
those on the pipes. 

In the joint shown in Figs. 498b and 498c the divided 
ring is clamped together in a different manner from the pre- 
ceding, and pipe ends are entirely plain. The clamps are 
provided with internal ribs and their uniting surfaces have 
projections and corresponding recesses to prevent misplace- 
ment, and the escape of the packing into the pipe under 
pressure. A packing of lead or other material placed be- 
tween the pipes and the collar, and between the two halves 
of the collar, forms the joint by compression. In each end 

551 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

of the half collars there is a depression or cavity, forming 
together, when the two half collars are united, a box or 
chamber in which a piece or block of India rubber is inserted 
and compressed. This closes the open space left between 
the ends of the half rings, and prevents injury to it when 
the rings are drawn together. 

The Bolted Ring Sleeve Joint. 
In Figs. 499, 500 and 501 three separate rings are em- 
ployed, and they are secured together by long bolts. The 
pipe ends are quite plain. Two loose collars are slid, one 




Fig. 499. 



Fig. 500. 



Fig. 501. 



against the end of each collar, and next, upon one of the 
pipes, is slid a flat tubular ring. When the two pipes are 
placed end to end the ring is slid back over the joint one- 
half on one pipe and the other half on the other, so that 
the tubular ring covers the junction. By means of nut 
bolts the two collars are then drawn toward each other, 
and the annular packings thereby compressed between them 
and the ends of the intermediate tubular ring, and forced to 
expand laterally into close contact respectively with the 
surfaces of the two pipes forming the joint. The annular 
packings may be of vulcanized India rubber, and made 

552 



The Screw Joint. 



smaller in diameter than the ends of the pipes in order that 
they may have a tendency to close tightly round them, or 
a gasket saturated with tallow or red lead in a plastic state 
may be employed. 

In one form of the device the tubular collar has its ends 
enlarged so as to form sockets to receive the packing rings, 
and the loose collars have corresponding shoulders cast 
upon them to enter the sockets and press the packing rings 
against the pipes. 

Screw Joints. 

The screw joint possesses a great advantage in being per- 
fectly and permanently steam, gas and water tight when 
properly made, and when the pipe and threading are of the 
proper kind. 




Fig. 50 



Fig. 503. 



It is capable of withstanding the effects of expansion and 
contraction, and of all kinds of strains and jars which the 
pipe itself can sustain, and it is extremely compact, occupy- 
ing, in fact, the minimum of space in a building. 

Its disadvantages are its high cost, the expense of setting 
up, the space required for turning the pipe and fittings, in 
setting up the piping, and the difficulty and expense of dis- 
connecting for alterations or repairs. 

The Flanged Screw Joint. 
Figs. 502 and 503 represent the first class of screw joints 
which we have designated as the flanged screw joint. It is 

553 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

intended especially for cast-iron pipe, and its principal fea- 
ture consists in casting or constructing upon the spigot end 
of a pipe two or more threads, the inside of the socket of 
the pipe to which it is attached being cast with correspond- 
ing grooves. There is also a collar formed on the spigot 
end. The complete joint is formed by covering the spigot 
and socket ends of the pipe with a layer of cement or other 
quick-setting substance and screwing the two pipes to- 
gether. By a slight turning of the pipes or either of them 
on their axes the connection is made. Instead of casting 
or otherwise permanently attaching threads upon the spigot 
end of the pipe, the pipe may be moulded with suitable 
grooves in which threads of steel or iron are afterwards 




Fig. 504. 

placed. By using a paste of iron filings and sal ammoniac 
an excellent rust joint could be made by this arrangement. 
But the coarseness of the thread and the difficulty of in- 
suring the cement following the thread against the friction 
of screwing up are defects which seem inherent in the de- 
vice. It could not be relied upon to retain, at all parts of the 
threading, sufficient binding material to insure a perfect 
joint. Moreover, the joint lacks flexibility in setting up, so 
that the fittings could not be adjusted at different angles or 
to different positions with facility. 

Fig. 504 shows another form of flanged screw joint, the 
threaded parts being on detachable sleeves. This joint 
might be included with equal propriety under the preceding 

554 



The Screw Joint. 

class of sleeve joints, inasmuch as its tightness is dependent 
rather upon rust or other packing between the sleeve and 
the pipes, than upon the threading. But where the rust 
makes the pipe and its sleeve practically one piece, the joint 
becomes ultimately a true screw joint. This joint is intended 
either for cast iron or else for soft metal, which would al- 
low of the ends to be slightly flanged out, as shown, to hold 
the threaded collars. The joint is subject to the same dis- 
advantages as the above described screw joints, with the 
additional defect of the liability of the collars becoming 
loosened in screwing on the outer sleeve. 



Fig. 505. 




Fig. 506. 



(6) The Inner Ring Screw Joint. 
In Fig. 505 a simple form of screw joint is shown, having 
as its object better resistance against pressure. The novel 
feature is the use of a small metal ring inside the two ends 
of the pipes, where the joint is formed in connection with 
a packing ring of suitable material. The end of the pipes 
are drawn together by means of a separate threaded ring or 
rings. The inside metal ring is bevelled slightly on the two 
edges, and the inner edges of the pipe ends are bevelled 
to correspond, so that the ring can only extend a little way 
into the pipes. By screwing the two ends of the pipe to- 
gether, the packing is compressed against this inner ring 
and the joint is formed. 

555 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

This complication is unnecessary, as plain screw joints 
are now made which offer as smooth an interior surface 
as this, and in a much simpler and better manner. 

Fig. 506 shows what we have called "the outer ring 
screw joint." It differs from the ordinary coupling ring or 
collar, in having the ends differentially threaded to corre- 
spond with similar threading in the pipes. In other words, 
the pitch of screw threads on each of the pipe ends is dif- 





f:&. 50- 



Fig. 508. 



ferent. When the collar is turned round it advances more 
quickly on one pipe than on the other, thus causing the 
pipes to approach each other, and come into tight contact. 

The Plain Screw Joint. 

Fig. 507 represents the ordinary screw joint as used by 
steamfitters for wrought iron pipe work. 

Figs. 508 to 512 show an improved screw joint formed 
with a view to forming a smoother connection between the 

556 



The Screw Joint. 




Fig. 510. 



pipes. It will be seen that, with the ordinary steamfitter's 
screw joint interior depressions are left when the pipe is 
screwed up, which will collect sewage. In this system, how- 



557 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

ever, the fittings are tapped with a shoulder, so that when 
the pipe is screwed home its interior and that of the fitting 
form a practically continuous line. A small recess only is 
left between the end of the pipe and the shoulder, depend- 



Fig. 511. 






Fig. 513. 



Fig. 514. 



Fig. 515. 
Fig. 516. 



ing upon the closeness with which the pipes are screwed 
up in practice. The thread is cut slightly tapering, and 
about eight threads per inch on pipes of from two to six 
inches in diameter. The threading is done on powerful 
tapping machines. 

558 



The Screw Joint. 

There is an advantage and a disadvantage in the taper 
threading. In Fig. 513 is shown on a large scale, some- 
what exaggerated for clearer illustration, a threading grad- 
ually tapering until it vanishes at the exterior of the pipe. 
The strength of the pipe is maintained by this method of 
tapering, and all the threads have a bearing, but it prevents 
any adjustment in length of the pipes when setting up. 
Fig. 514 shows the ordinary threading. The pipe here, 
being weakened by the full depth of the threading, is liable 
to crack at the points shown in the drawing, and only a 
certain number of threads do the work of the whole. The 
wrought iron pipes are screwed into the couplings or fit- 
tings by means of chain-tongs, on which a man can exert 
a powerful leverage, thus securing, with the aid of a paste 
of white and red lead and oil, a perfectly tight joint. The 
pipes are cut and fitted at the factory by preference, or on 
the premises if necessary. The bends, branches and other 
fittings used with the straight lengths of wrought iron are 
constructed of cast iron. 

In cases where it is necessary to disjoint wrought iron 
piping, one of the fittings has to be broken and the wrought 
iron straight piece adjoining can then in some cases be un- 
screwed. There is less danger of accidentally cracking more 
than one piece of pipe than is the case with ordinary lead 
calked cast iron bell and spigot pipes. On the other hand, 
the cutting of cast iron pipes for alteration is easier than 
that of wrought iron. Wrought iron pipes require costly 
machinery for proper cutting and threading, and the lengths 
must be measured accurately and put together by skilled 
mechanics. The joint, moreover, has not the slight amount 
of flexibility of setting which is a merit with the hub and 
spigot type. It does not allow the pipe or fitting to be canted 
slightly in any direction for convenience in connecting up. 

559 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Figs. 515 and 516 represent a sanitary device for filling 
the idle ends and branches of sewer and water pipes.* It 
does away with the ordinary sediment chamber in these 
''dead ends" in the manner shown in the drawings, and 
is an excellent fitting. Sediment in these "dead ends" cor- 
rodes the ordinary clean out cap, creating in effect a rigid 
rust joint, so that the cap cannot be removed when de- 
sired. 



*The invention of Mr. David Craig, Plumber, of Boston, Mass. 



560 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



Leakage of Pipes and Joints. 



y 



Midnight. 8 a. m. Noon. 6 p. m. Midnight. 

The vertical lines of division in this diagram 
represent the hours from midnight to midnight. 
The parallelogram in solid block represents the con- 
tinuous leakage of water which goes on day and 
night in practically unvarying volume. 

American practice is not, on the average, better 
than British practice in water works engineering. 



The following 
extracts from a 
letter t o Mr. 
Dean of the 
Central Foun- 
dry Co. from 
Mr. James C. 
Bayles regard- 
ing the waste of 
water and gas 
through leak- 
age in distribu- 
tion will be of 



Fig. 519. 

interest as showing the very great need of further efforts 
toward the improvement of pipe construction and jointing. 



Relation of Use to Leakage in Water Supplies. 

To put the average leakage of water mains and services 
in this country at fifty per cent of the intake, would be far 
within the truth. Mr. William Hope, C. E., an eminent 
British water works engineer, stated the truth briefly in his 
paper before the Institution of Civil Engineers as follows : 

"Even now a majority of the water undertakings of this 
country lose by leakage more than one-half the total quan- 



561 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

tity of water supplied from the source. The proportion is 
often higher, and rises in many instances to three-fourths 
or more, while in comparatively new countries, such as 
America, Australia and New Zealand, the proportion so 
lost is still greater." 

Nearly all the water distributed in cities and towns is car- 
ried by cast iron mains laid with hub and spigot joints. 

Gas Leakage. 

For American cities I am of the opinion that from 12 
to 15 per cent of total output would be a fair average for 
leakage loss. In some instances it is very much greater. 
Losses of 25 to 30 per cent are not exceptional, and I have 
known a company with all wrought iron mains put together 
with screw joints to have a leakage loss of 60 per cent. 
In large cities losses materially exceeding an average of half 
a million cubic feet per mile of main per annum do not 
surprise the well informed gas engineer. 

Expansion and contraction are constant. Pipes in the 
ground are never at rest, but lengthen and shorten with 
each variation of temperature. This movement is slight, 
rarely exceeding two inches in a thousand feet through the 
range of a year, but it is irresistible. If not accommodated 
it will accommodate itself. The forces acting upon a pipe 
are so much stronger than any iron ever made that the 
rigid pipe is inevitably broken. I attribute 80 per cent, of 
normal main leakage to the destructive influence of expan- 
sion and contraction. 

To this may also be attributed the great leakage found 
at service taps. To expect that two lines of pipe laid at 
right angles one to the other, rigidly connected and each 
expanding and contracting longitudinally, will remain in gas 

562 



Leakage of Pipes and Joints. 

or water tight connection is to expect a miracle, and modern 
engineering does not deal with occult phenomena. 

Unequal settlement results from many causes too well 
known to need explanation. It opens joints or causes frac- 
tures according to circumstances. Pipes which cannot 
bend are readily broken by vertical or lateral displacement. 

Disintegration by oxidation and electrolysis need no dis- 
cussion. 

Jar, shock and vibration affect pipe lines in proportion 
to their rigidity. Lines of pipe so laid as to be flexible and 
expandable, even with narrow limits, are very little affected 
by these disturbing influences. 

The screw joint of wrought iron pipe is as rigid as the 
pipe itself. For this reason the threads, being less strong 
than the pipe wall, are liable to strip under the action of 
contraction and expansion. I have seen a line of pipe taken 
apart by hand which it required four men at each joint to 
put together. The hub and spigot joint is a crude stuffing 
box placed with an inelastic material. I have seen a line of 
hub and spigot pipe laid in one day and tested bottle-tight 
at 6 p. m. leak at 7 a. m. the next morning from the shrink- 
age due to taking the temperature of the trench over night. 
The chief advantage of the hub and spigot joint is that 
when packed with lead it will permit a certain amount of 
slip and thus to some extent relieve the strains tending to 
fracture. That it is always a leaky joint is a fact too well 
known to need the support of argument. When packed 
with cement, as in much of the modern gas practice, leakage 
at the joints is minimized, but fractures are much increased. 
The difference as affecting net leakage is not material, but 
a great many engineers prefer to deal with occasional great 
leaks due to breakage rather than with innumerable small 
ones at joints. 

563 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

4. Main Leakage and the Public Interest. 

If the consequences of main leakage which are of pub- 
lic concern were limited to the waste of what is lost there- 
by, it would be difficult to make the matter appear important. 

In the case of water it would be argued that it "cost noth- 
ing" originally and should be "as free as air" to the user. 
If some loss in distribution was admitted, it would be con- 
tended that measures of waste prevention would cost more 
than waste replacement, and that it is better public economy 
to lose two gallons in distributing three than to conserve two 
and a half and lose only one-half. This might be plausible, 
but it would be essentially untrue. Few municipalities are 
so situated that their sources of supply of potable water are 
equal to the triple demand of leakage, waste and use. A 
normal increase of use may be counted on; waste will in- 
crease in more than arithmetical ratio unless checked by me- 
tering and of leakage we may be sure it will keep well ahead 
of both use and waste together. As the height of buildings 
is increased more pressure is needed for fire purposes and 
circulation. The escape of water from a given defect in a 
conduit varies under different pressures as the square roots 
of the pressures compared. For example : A defect in a pipe 
which under a pressure of forty-five pounds will leak 12,960 
gallons in twenty-four hours (and a round hole one-fourth 
inch in diameter, or its equivalent, will do this) at sixty 
pounds will leak 14,431 gallons, and at ninety pounds will 
leak 18,600 gallons. This is theoretical. In practice, as 
pressures are increased old leaks grow larger and new ones 
are developed. With a defective distributing system, the 
relief of increased pressure is usually very transient. It 
does not always, if often, increase the available supply. The 
resulting evils, besides an increased and ultimately burden- 
some public expenditure, are scarcity of water for such pub- 

564 



Leakage of Pipes and Joints. 

lie uses as street sprinkling and washing, sewer flushing, 
etc., a low pressure service which must be supplemented by 
house pumping and an inadequate fire protection. New 
York is now "threatened with' a water famine." Without 
main leakage it would have in its present supply all the wa- 
ter needed for three times its present population, and might 
safely postpone plans of water works extension until near 
the close of the present century. 

In the case of gas the evils of main leakage are many and 
serious. The least of these is the economic waste which 
must be paid for by charging it to consumption. 

It enormously increases the fire hazard. 

It is attended with an indeterminate danger to the public 
health. 

It puts life in jeopardy from frequent street and sewer 
explosions. 

It involves the constant destruction of unreplaceable pave- 
ments for main repairs which, if neglected, would quickly 
render the city uninhabitable. 

Of the fire hazard of gas leakage, Circular No. 559 of the 
National Board of Fire Underwriters says : 

"Facts concerning the leakage of illuminating gas in dis- 
tribution, lately brought to the attention of the National 
Board of Fire Underwriters, in connection with fires occur- 
ring in New York and other cities, show the importance of 
a thorough investigation, from the insurance standpoint, of 
the relation between the spread of asphalt and other imper- 
vious pavements, and the fire risks in buildings fronting on 
streets and avenues thus paved. The occurrence in New 
York during the past year of a number of fires and explo- 
sions which, studied in the light of facts before this commit- 
tee, may be assumed to be due to the leakage of gas mains 

565 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

under impervious pavements, warrants the belief that the 
attention of fire underwriters should everywhere be directed 
to this important subject, to the end that it may be investi- 
gated under all conditions and from widely separated points 
of view." 

"This statement is accompanied by a startling array of 
facts and figures which, from any less authoritative source, 
would seem in the highest degree sensational." 

"Of the health risk of gas leakage, especially in the case 
of water gas, the data at hand is still incomplete. It has, 
however, been taken up for clinical study by the New York 
County Medical Association and data already collected by 
members of its Committee on Hygiene, in looking for gas 
and finding it in dangerous quantities in the homes of per- 
sons suffering from persistent sickness resembling malaria 
but not responding to other treatment than a change of resi- 
dence, indicate that illuminating gas in sewers and in the 
air of dwellings accounts for much of the sickness and no 
small part of the mortality peculiar to cities, and especially 
for the prevalence of anaemic conditions among the occupants 
of inferior and badly plumbed houses." 

"Carbon monoxide absorbed from the air by the lungs, en- 
ters into chemical combination with the haemoglobin of the 
blood, which has for it an affinity about four hundred times 
greater than for oxygen. When about 70 per cent of sat- 
uration is reached death ensues inevitably. Distressing and 
often dangerous symptoms, especially in the case of persons 
with defective heart action, are noted at about one-third of 
saturation. Dr. John Haldane, Professor of Physiology, 
Oxford University, says :" 

"Carbonic oxide or carbon monoxide (CO) is a very 
poisonous gas. Judging from experiments on animals, air 
containing anything more than 0.4 per cent would, after a 

566 



Leakage of Pipes and Joints. 

sufficient time, always cause death in a man though anything 
over 0.2 per cent would in many cases prove fatal." 

"I deem it safe to affirm that illuminating gas is the worst 
and perhaps the only generally dangerous element of so- 
called 'sewer gas.' Through house drains it works into 
houses, and from defects in waste pipe it escapes into living 
and sleeping rooms. CO may almost always be detected 
in connection with defective plumbing, the danger of which 
it enormously increases. 

"Gas which has escaped from underground leaks does not 
usually carry any odor with it. Filtration through earth, 
even for a short distance, makes it odorless from the re- 
moval of the added illuminants. This quality greatly in- 
creases its danger. I am of the opinion that if gas is not 
distributed with a very much smaller leakage loss than is 
now considered consistent with good average practice, the 
time is not far distant when the suppression of the gas in- 
dustry in cities, as an intolerable public nuisance, will be- 
come a necessity.'' 

Respectfully, 

(Sig.) James C. Bayles, M. E., Ph. D. 

"Main Leakage a Menace to Public Safety and 

Health. 

Leakage from water mains greatly increases the difficulty 
of maintaining at times of fire sufficient pressures. When it 
is considered that the rate of fire consumption in percentage 
of average, when average equals ioo gallons per day, is for 
a town of 1,000 inhabitants 1,000 per cent, for a town 
of 5,000 inhabitants 450 per cent, and a city of 50,000 
inhabitants 140 per cent, whilst even in cities of 100,000 as 
much supply is demanded in time of fire as the requirements 
of the city itself, it can be readily understood how serious 

567 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the conditions are arising from defective distributing sys- 
tems. Take for instance the very recent fire at the Parker 
Building in New York, where several lives were lost and 
much property destroyed because of the inability to ob- 
tain sufficient pressure to even supply the fire engines. This 
is not an unusual example, and in fact almost innumerable 
similar cases could be cited. 

I quote the following from the circular on the Universal 
pipe joint of the Central Foundry Company : 

Mr. Dexter Bracket, Engineer of the Distribution Depart- 
ment of the Metropolitan Water Works, in a Report on the 
Measurement, Consumption and Waste of Water to the 
Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board, gives the follow- 
ing table of water waste : 



120 



too 






QUANTITY USED 



Minimum rate used and wasted 



Estimated use during hours of minimum rate 













Fig. 520. 
568 



Leakage of Pipes and Joints. 

With the extension of the use of water gas, which is much 
less easily detected by odor than the illuminating gas from 
retorts, the subtle dangers to health have been greatly in- 
creased. 

A New York county medical association has taken this 
matter up and information already collected points to the 
fact that many persons suffering from persistent sickness 
resembling malaria do not respond to any other treatment 
than changing their abode, thus indicating that illuminating 
gas reaching dwellings through services and sewers, poisons 
the air and is responsible for much of the sickness and no 
small part of the mortality peculiar to cities. 

The catastrophies which constantly occur in large cities 
through gas explosions are so frequently a matter of news 
in the daily papers as to make unnecessary further mention 
of them here, whilst the breaking down through street ex- 
cavations of the concrete crown of roads and pavements, 
thus irreparably damaging them, is only too constantly a 
matter of daily observation of all citizens. The destruction 
of trees and grass by the leakage of gas into the ground is 
also well known. 



5t>9 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 
Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

Of the various kinds of joints thus far reviewed we have 
found the ordinary bell-and-spigot joint the most defective. 
As has been shown, it is faulty (i) in the manner in which 
the packing material is applied, and (2) in the position 
in which it is held; (3) in the lack of any provision for 
protecting it against the effects of strains in any direction, 
due to variations of temperature or other cause, by which 
the spigot soon becomes loosened from the packing in the 
socket; (4) in the temptation it presents for carelessness 
and fraud; (5) in the difficulty of disjointing it for repairs 
or alterations ; (6) in its inflexibility, and (7) in its costli- 
ness. 

These defects are inherent in the nature of the joint. The 
calking may, it is true, be done by hydrostatic pressure or 
other mechanical means, and some of the difficulties in- 
volved by the customary laborious and unsatisfactory man- 
ual process might be avoided, but the old way is adhered 
to, and all the defects as a matter of fact remain. The use 
of grooves cast in the bell or spigot with a view to holding 
the lead in place may, in certain cases, alleviate the evil 
effect of strains or jars, but it evidently cannot remove it. 

The sleeve joint is, in principle, another form of bell- 
and-spigot joint. It has all the objections of the latter, and 
adds one of its own, in that it doubles the number of calk- 
ings and packings required, and complicates the form. Its 
object appears to be the connection of wrought iron pipes 
upon which bells or caps cannot be readily formed in a 
single piece. 

570 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

The screw joint is also particularly intended for wrought 
iron pipe. It is a great improvement upon the foregoing 
two classes, removing the first four, but not the last three 
defects. 

The flange joint is suitable for cast iron and removes 
many of the defects enumerated above. It has, however, 
as we have so far illustrated it, the serious defect of being 
non-adjustable, and it is absolutely inflexible or inelastic. 
Moreover, as heretofore used, the flange joint cannot be 
made tight under pressure without considerable expense in 
fitting or planing the faces of the flanges, and the means 
employed for bringing the flanges together have been im- 
perfect and unsatisfactory, requiring considerable working 
room, and rendering their use in contracted spaces incon- 
venient or altogether impossible. 

Flexibility in pipe jointing seems to be generally consid- 
ered by designers as either undesirable or unattainable, ab- 
solute rigidity being the ideal sought. 

Nevertheless I am now convinced after a quarter of a 
century's experiment and study of the subject that no rigid 
joint will ever be entirely successful in plumbing, gas or 
water piping, and that flexibility is really an absolutely es- 
sential quality. 

In plumbing the shrinkage or settlement of the building 
after the pipes have been installed, and the racking caused 
by severe changes of temperature due to the alternate pas- 
sage of cold and hot water or even steam through the pipes 
are bound in time to destroy either the joint or the fixture 
to which it is connected. 

In gas and water piping settlements in the streets, so 
frequently torn up and rebuilt, and distorted by the con- 
struction of new buildings, and the continual changes of 
temperature following the changes of the seasons, crack 

571 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

open the rigid joints and cause the colossal losses to which 
we have already called attention. 

The water carriage system of disposing of the organic 
wastes of a community has been shown to be the most eco- 
nomical and satisfactory one now known, but such a sew- 
erage system is manifestly of little value without the co- 
existence of a public water supply, because otherwise the 
efficient flushing of the sewers and plumbing fixtures, espe- 
cially of the water closets, becomes too expensive and un- 
reliable for satisfactory results. 

A public water supply is also essential as a rule for en- 
suring pure drinking water, and, for domestic and com- 
mercial purposes, a soft water instead of the hard water 
obtained from wells. 

A public supply is also essential for proper fire protec- 
tion. It is more economical for the people to contribute 
to the maintenance of a public water supply than to stand 
the high fire losses and insurance rates resulting from the 
want of one. 

Other important public uses of a general water supply are 
street sprinkling and watering of parks, public and private 
lawns and fountains and the like, and the benefits coming 
from a good public water supply increase the value of the 
property of any community, however small, far beyond the 
cost of its installation. Hence it is only a question of time 
when such supply will become practically universal. 

Inasmuch as the joint of the usual cast iron pipe of our 
public water mains is the weakest part of the system, it is 
that which must be held responsible for most of the leakage 
occurring. A rigid joint, moreover, has no power to pro- 
tect the pipe itself from fracture under external pressure, as 
has the flexible joint. 

The comparatively rare actual fracture of the pipe itself, 
however, would be more likely to be made known by a 

573 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

sudden lowering of the pressure on the system as at the 
pumps, and lead to its repair. But the joints leak all the time 
soon after laying and cannot be made tight, but must, on the 
contrary, inevitably grow worse every year. As the streets 
are dug up from time to time, the pressure on the mains 
becomes more and more unequal, and the contraction and 
expansion due to the conveyance alternately of nearly freez- 
ing winter water and comparatively warm summer water 
through the pipes, working upon an almost absolutely ine- 
lastic material like lead, must in time open the joint. Lead 
can never of itself return to its place in the bell and spigot 
joint when once compressed or when gradually drawn from 
its socket by the constant longitudinal play back and forth 
of the comparatively elastic iron, so that serious leaks 
should be expected at every joint, and they do there develop 
and go on increasing as the disturbing causes are repeated 
until they reach the enormous proportions so many able in- 
vestigators have recorded. 

Money Loss Through Bad Jointing. 

It is pretty generally agreed that an average of 50 gallons 
of water per day for each individual is a liberal allowance 
for all purposes. 

The enormous quantities (150 to 300 gallons per head 
per day) registered by some of the large cities of the United 
States and paid for by the people, indicate a very large 
percentage of loss. The chief causes of such loss are leaky 
mains, bad plumbing and carelessness, the last item being 
greatly reduced by metering the service. 

Authorities* place the average loss through leakage in 
the joints in the mains at a shockingly high figure, equalling 
half of the entire supply, or considerably more in many cases 

*See American Architect and Building News for Jan. 13, 1900, 
already quoted in these articles. ' ' 

573 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

than the total amount allowed as a liberal average require- 
ment for each consumer. 

Assuming this liberal allowance for each individual to be 
50 gallons per diem, and that a public supply is the most 
economical, then those of the 84 million of people of the 
United States enumerated in the last census who pay for 
the public supply are actually paying for something near 
double what they use. If we assume, furthermore, an aver- 
age meter rate of from 10 to 20 cents per 100 cubic feet, 
they pay for 50 gallons per day of wasted water at the rate 
of say 15 cents per 750 gallons, or 1 cent for 50 gallons, 
which amounts to paying $3.65 per year for an unscientific 
system of pipe jointing. 

Inasmuch as even this tax is, as we have said, more eco- 
nomical than to obtain water through individual effort with- 
out public supply, we may assume that ultimately all the 
citizens of the United States will be glad to enjoy the privi- 
lege of paying 50 per cent, for leakage, unless some more 
scientific form of jointing is adopted, and the average, 
$3.65 loss per citizen per year, will aggregate the trifling 
sum of over three hundred millions of dollars a year. 

The United States census for 1900 gives the total value 
of gas sold in the United States for the census year as $69,- 
432,582.00. Calculating a proportionately similar waste 
from bad gas joints we have for the annual leakage in the 
mains of both water and gas in this country not far from 
half a billion dollars. 

Therefore even a small improvement in the matter of 
pipe jointing is worth while. A joint which would save 
only 10 per cent, of this loss would mean an annual money 
saving alone of many millions of dollars and corresponding 
sanitary advantages. 



*See very interesting article by James C. Baylies on Gas Leak- 
age in "Domestic Engineering" for July an<J August, 1902. 

574 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. • 

Author's Attempts to Improve Pipe Jointing. 

Our first experiments in pipe jointing were made in 1883, 
and were conducted on the inadequate idea that if a per- 
fectly rigid joint could be economically constructed the prob- 
lem would be solved. 

It was assumed that if such a joint could be made ad- 
justable in setting up, and approximately as rigid when as- 
sembled as the pipe itself, the utmost attainable would be ac- 
complished. 

The joint then devised, and originally called by the writer 
the "Sanitas" joint, as constituting part of his "Sanitas" 
system of plumbing appliances, is shown in Figs. 522 to 535, 
inclusive. Recently, however, the small spigot on one of 
the flanges has been added, forming an important improve- 
ment in this joint, and, by way of distinction, the name 
"Securitas" has been given to the improved form, including 
it with his other recent improvements in sanitary appliances 
going under this name. 

The "Securitas" Flanged Joint. 

To avoid the difficulties connected with the threading and 
screwing together of wrought iron pipe, and to permit of 
the use of cast iron without the defects involved in hand 
calking, this joint was devised and put into successful use in 
house building by the writer. In general terms it may be 
described as an adjustable flanged joint with lead gaskets 
for packing forced in place by bolts after the manner of 
flanged steam pipes without the employment of skilled labor. 
It is a steamfitter's joint with improvements which adapt 
it for plumbing, gas and water carriage where a rigid joint 
is desired. 

The pressure is applied by two ratchet wrenches, Figs. 
529 and 530, constructed for the purpose and used simul- 

575 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




Fig. 521. 




Fig. 524. 




Fig. 522. 




Fig. 525. 





Fig. 527. 



-H-4-4 




Fig. 526. 
576 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

taneously, one working left and the other right handed, as 
shown in Fig. 531. This avoids the necessity of securing 
the pipes while the nuts are being screwed up, and causes 
both sides to be compressed alike, since the wrench which 
has given and received the greatest pressure ceases tem- 
porarily to turn until the other has caught up with it. This 
permits the joint to be made up in very contracted places, 
as shown in the figure, and by a single ordinary unskilled 




Fig. 529. 



Fig. 530 




Fig. 531. 

workman in less than twenty seconds after the pipes are 
once set in place. To calk an ordinary bell-and-spigot joint 
in the usual defective manner is estimated by good authori- 
ties as requiring, on the average, the pipes being in place, 
as many minutes. Moreover, two men instead of one are 
required for it; one, the plumber, to do the calking, and 
the other, the helper, to handle the fire and melt the lead. 
The amount of lead used for calking our flanged joint is 

577 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

about one-eighth that required for the ordinary joint. The 
lead gasket for four-inch pipes weighs half a pound, and 
for two-inch pipe one-fourth of a pound, while the rule for 
calking ordinary joints is to use one pound of lead for every 
inch in the diameter of the pipe. We also save the fuel, 





Fig. 533. 




Fig 532 



Fig. 534. 



oakum, etc., used in making ordinary joints, and avoid the 
danger of fire from lead melting in the house. 

Fig. 525 shows the lead packing ring in perspective, and 
Fig. 526 shows its star-shaped section in actual size for 
plumbers' pipes. It is crushed to less than half its thick- 
ness into every pore and crevice of the iron by the pressure 
of the two half-inch bolts screwed up easily by a man of 
ordinary strength with the fourteen-inch ratchet wrenches, 

578 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

until the spigot on one pipe comes to a bearing on the flange 
surface of the other, Fig. 523. In this way the workman 
is informed when the joint is made up, and the lead packing 
thus protected cannot be affected by the expansion or con- 
traction of the pipes. The expansion of the two flanges 
being the same, no injury can be done to the joint by hot 
water or steam, as was demonstrated by repeated tests. 

The strong bolts prevent leakage by sagging or horizon- 
tal tension of the pipes up to the point of the rupture of the 
iron, while the ordinary bell-and-spigot joint depends for its 




Fig. 5 35. 

resistance to such a strain only on the friction of the lead 
calking against the sides of the iron. 

The flush flanges enable any piece of the piping to be 
taken out for alterations without breaking it, and the op- 
portunity and temptation for the use of sand, paper, putty 
or other fraudulent packing is prevented, since all the pack- 
ing used is directly visible from the outside when set in 
place. 

Branches and fittings of various kinds similar to those 
used in wrought iron screwed piping enable any change of 
direction to be obtained with entire facility, as is made clear 
by the drawings. All pipe cutting, which is both very diffi- 

579 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

cult, expensive and dangerous to the pipe, is avoided, be- 
cause a sufficient number of different short lengths and 
bends or angles are supplied to meet every requirement, 
the jointing being so easy and quick that a variety of lengths 
becomes worth while and entails no practical difficulty. 

Being cast in short lengths, the pipes may be made of 
more uniform thickness, and as the calking requires no ham- 
mering, even porcelain or glass-lined pipe might be used 
with safety if desired. 

The simple manner in which lead and iron pipes are con- 
nected with this joint is shown in Figs. 533 and 534. 

Fig. 535 shows without further explanation how the pipes 
may be capped for the hydraulic or other test, and Fig. 532 
has a turned brass expansion or slide joint with a fibrous 
packing inserted. 

To test the resistance of this joint to alterations of steam 
and cold water pressure before using these pipes in prac- 
tical building, I had several lengths of four-inch piping con- 
nected together and closed up at the ends, and coupled the 
whole with a steam boiler, the pressure gauge indicating 
about 30 pounds of steam pressure. The steam was left 
on until the pipe-flanges and bolts had all become thoroughly 
heated through. The coupling was then immediately trans- 
ferred to the cold water supply from the city main, and after 
the steam had been let out the cold water was suddenly 
turned on until the piping was rilled. As the experiments 
were performed in midwinter, the tests were as severe as 
possible. The cold water was then poured out and steam 
again immediately applied. This alternating application of 
steam and cold water was repeated in the tests a dozen times 
successively on the same joints. During the entire process 
no sign of leak, either of steam or water, was obtained, and 
no creeping or alteration of the gasket occurred. 

580 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

It is well known that no bell-and-spigot joint will stand 
such a test, even after the most careful calking, as indeed is 
evidenced by the plumbing laws which prohibit the discharge 
of exhaust steam into plumbing drains. 

This joint has also the advantage of causing no obstruc- 
tion to the waterway, and of leaving no appreciable space 
or pocket for deposit. 

But flange joints are not flexible, and are therefore in- 
capable of protecting the pipe line against the effects of 
street settlement, expansion and contraction and other ad- 
verse influences already referred to as affecting water and 
gas mains. In plumbing work a rigid jointing is always 
liable to cause the fracture of the fixture connections, espe- 
cially when they are made of earthenware, in all cases of 
shrinkage or settlement of the building and of expansion and 
contraction of the pipe lines. 

The Durham system of wrought iron screw jointed pip- 
ing attempts to partially overcome this difficulty by support- 
ing some of the fixtures directly upon the rigid branches 
of the main pipe lines independently of the floors. But this 
only transfers the strain from one part of the fixture to an- 
other, because even if, by this means, the fixture itself could 
be compelled to follow the movement of the main piping, 
or to remain with it when the walls settle or the floor beams 
shrink, the flushing apparatus of the fixture cannot be simi- 
larly connected, and therefore the rupturing strain must 
still remain, and the device becomes practically inefficient. 
The rigid system of jointing is responsible for most annoy- 
ing and vastly expensive losses by fracture and leakage 
generally misunderstood or unaccounted for by the owner. 

A realization of this fact will be most effectively im- 
pressed upon an observant owner of any high building in 
which hot and cold water are alternately used in large quan- 
tities, as in hotels. 

581 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Investment in such a building presented the writer with 
such an opportunity for expensive experience along this 
line. 

Wrought iron piping was here used for the soil pipes, 
the building having been planned and erected by the writer 
before his efforts to obtain a permanently reliable joint had 
been made. The great need of it had not then been made 
so painfully clear to him as to seem to justify a very consid- 
erable expenditure of time and money in "experimentation." 

The final result has been the development of a flexible 
joint which has withstood for several years very severe 
tests, which have been continued up to the present time. 

One of the tests has consisted in placing one of the 
joints under a water pressure varying from 45 to 50 pounds 
to the square inch off and on for three years, moving the 
pipes at the joint from time to time, sometimes while the 
pressure was off and sometimes when it was on, without 
producing the slightest signs of leakage. 

The last tests were made within the present month (Nov. 
1910), and having proved themselves successful, the writer 
feels himself now justified in publishing here, for the first 
time, a description of this joint, and also justified in naming 
it 

THE "SECURITAS" FLEXIBLE JOINT. 

Two kinds of motion at the joints must be provided for, 
one longitudinal and one rotary, and the experiments seem 
to show that, while the exterior form of the joints may be 
the same for both kinds of motion, the interior construction 
must differ for each, it being inadvisable as well as un- 
necessary to provide for both kinds in the same form of 
joint. Accordingly, two forms of construction have been 
produced, to be used simultaneously in the same pipe system, 
one to provide for a longitudinal and the other for a rotary 
play of the pipes, the first to be confined to straight pipe 
lengths and the other to bends and fittings. 

582 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

We have thus a dual pipe jointing system, Figs. 536 to 
539, illustrating the construction for straight pipes, and 
Figs. 540 to 547 for bends and fittings. 

Fig. 548 shows the means by which these joints are made 
up. 

We have quite recently succeeded in obtaining a compo- 
sition which has about the consistency of fresh putty when 
in the condition used by glaziers, with three very important 
other qualities, the first being a permanent plasticity due to 
the combination in the substance of a special form of non- 
drying oil, the second being practical indifference to all 
changes of temperature between the degrees of freezing and 
boiling water, and the third an extraordinary adhesive- 
ness. 

Our first work consisted in perfecting this composition 
after long experimenting with a very large number of sub- 
stances, and testing it under all sorts of conditions for many 
years, until we were convinced of its practical reliability in 
all of these essential qualities required. After many years' 
exposure to dry air the compound has suffered no appre- 
ciable diminution of plasticity, and it appears capable of 
retaining all its desirable qualities in the joint indefinitely. 

Describing first the plain pipe joint for longitudinal play, 
Figs. 536 and 537 show longitudinal sections of the device, 
and Fig. 538 is a horizontal section of the same. Fig. 539 
shows the supporting and adjusting mechanism. As may 
be seen, the joint consists of the plain or spigot end of one 
pipe inserted into a spherical shaped enlargement of the 
opposite end of another pipe, the space between the two 
being filled with the permanently pliable compound already 
referred to. The spherical enlargement has between it and 
the main body of the pipe to which it is connected a short 
cylindrical enlargement of internal diameter just sufficient 
to receive the plain or spigot end of the other pipe, and of 

583 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

length sufficient to allow the latter to play back and forth 
longitudinally within the cylinder under the influence of 




Pig. 536. 



Fig. 537. 



Fig. 538. 



Fig. 539. 



expansion and contraction of the pipe line. The outer end 
of the spherical enlargement has a diameter just sufficient 
to receive the plain or spigot end of the other pipe. The 



584 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

pliable composition is forced into the space between the cup 
and spigot through a threaded hole in the side of the former, 
and is prevented from escaping; by two soft, pliable gaskets 
at each end of the cup surrounding the spigot. In virtue 
of this arrangement the greater the internal pressure of 
fluids passing through the pipe system the more forcibly 
the elastic composition is forced against the gaskets and 
the more impervious they become. Accordingly, the greater 
the pressure the tighter becomes the joint. On the other 
hand, the great toughness and tenacity of the filling com- 
pound, and its permanent indifference to changes of tem- 
perature, present an absolutely impassable barrier to liquids 
or gases conveyed through the pipes under slight or atmos- 
pheric pressure, or even under more or less of a vacuum. 
The gaskets may be permeated with a material impervious 
to gases of any kind, and the filling composition is itself 
of a nature peculiarly adapted to withstand corroding chem- 
ical action. 

The passage of boiling water, alternating with cold, 
through the pipes has no injurious effect on the materials 
forming the joint, nor does ice cold water nor a freezing 
outer environment produce any material reduction in the 
pliability and tenacity thereof. 

The pliable compound is forced very quickly and easily 
into the joint under the pressure of the pumps shown in 
Fig. 548, and the pressure is afterwards maintained or even 
increased, if desired, by screwing down the small cap pro- 
vided to close the opening after the pumping apparatus has 
been disconnected, but the principle of the construction of 
the joint does not seem to require the application of any 
special degree of pressure in inserting the filling material. 

After the joint has been set up the filling may be ap- 
plied and capped up in less than ten seconds on a four-inch 
pipe, and the jointing may be made as illustrated in this 

585 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

figure in situations absolutely inaccessible for ordinary 
methods of jointing, and its cost is far below that of any 
other joint of which the writer is aware. 

A turned joint assembled by means of bolts has recently 
been placed on the market for street mains with a claim 
to some small degree of flexibility. But the expense of turn- 
ing and bolting remains, and it is difficult to see how such 
a joint can be made either practically flexible or permanently 
tight under distorting influences. 

A very important feature of advantage in the Securitas 
joint is the ease with which it may be disconnected at any 
time, as in case of desired alterations or extensions, and 
another very important advantage consists in its doing away 
with all use of heat in its construction. Cylinders contain- 
ing the pliable compound for a large number of joints may 
be conveniently forwarded by mail or otherwise at a mini- 
mum of expense, the cylinders being constructed to fit the 
pumps in which they are used, and returnable for refilling 
at any time, and the pumps may be operated either by hand 
or by hydraulic air or steam pressure, or even by the weight 
of the workman, leaving his hands free for other work. 

The joint occupies the minimum of space and is of very 
pleasing appearance. 

The fibrous rings of the joint are held in place by annular 
shoulders or projections cast on the inner side of the spher- 
ical enlargement, as shown in Figs. 536, 537 and 538, the 
projections extending inward far enough to nearly touch 
the outer surface of the spigot. The upper surfaces are 
bevelled so as to guide the spigot centrally when it is in- 
serted into the cup. 

In order to provide properly for the longitudinal move- 
ment of the pipes under the influence of changes of tem- 
perature or shrinkage and settlement of the building the 

586 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

spigot is first lowered into the bell end of the pipe below 
until it touches the shoulder at the connection of the cylin- 
drical enlargement with the main pipe. The pipe is then 
lifted a short distance corresponding with the amount of 
play room desired. To enable this play room to be easily 
attained in setting the pipes, and to regulate its amount 
with exactitude, and absolutely independent of the skill or 
scientific attainment of the journeyman plumber, the mech- 
anism shown in the cuts has been devised. The stack is 
supported by hangers surrounding the pipes just below the 
external shoulders of the cylindrical enlargements below the 
cups. The hangers are placed in contact with shoulders 
when the spigot end of the pipe has been brought in contact 
with the inner shoulder of the cupped end. The upper pipe 
is then raised from the shoulder until the free space below 
the spigot has attained the exact size required for the best 
results, by driving a wedge of iron between the bell shoulder 
and the hanger, the thickness of the wedge being the gauge 
of the proper space required. The pliable compound is 
forced in after the proper adjustment has been made, and 
the joint is completed. 

Figs. 540 to 547 show the construction of the Securitas 
ball and socket joint designed to provide for rotary move- 
ment. 

The joint has the same exterior form and the same pli- 
able compound for packing as the straight pipe joint, but 
one-half of the spherical space between the bell and socket 
is filled with a fine Portland cement and sand concrete cast 
upon the spigot to form the ball of rotation, a sheet metal 
disc separating this hard from the soft packing. 

In this joint the mouth or opening of the cup is a little 
larger than the exterior diameter of the spigot end, so as to 
receive the same, and also leave room for considerable lat- 

587 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

eral play when the inner pipe is rotated around the centre 
of the cup as an axis. 

In order to enable the Portland cement to take as per- 
fect a spherical form as possible without going to the ex- 
pense of machine turned work the interior surface of the 




cup is coated with asphaltum at the factory in the usual 
manner, and it is provided, also at the factory, with a 
further coating of paraffin by dipping. These two coatings 
produce a very smooth inner surface thick enough to fill 
up all the rough irregularities of the casting with a com- 
paratively soft material, so that when the concrete sphere is 
cast therein and has hardened a perfect ball and socket 
joint is formed with the paraffin for a lubricator, which is 
capable of rotation without injury to either part. The force 
required to rotate this joint is small compared with those 
which are brought to bear upon the pipe system by the ex- 
pansion and contraction of the iron or by the shrinkage or 
settlement of the building. The softness of the paraffin 
lining permits the pipes to rotate under a comparatively 

588 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

small leverage of pipe length. To permit of the sheet metal 
disc being inserted in the cup it is cut across so that it can 
be bent into the form of a spiral and easily inserted into the 




Fig. 541. 



cup around the spigot as a corkscrew would be inserted. 
The disc is inserted at the pipe factory before the pipe is 
coated with asphaltum. The coating then covers not only 
all parts of the pipe but also the disc on both sides, and 
serves to bind the disc securely to the inner side of the cup 
and hold it firmly in position while the spigot end is being 
introduced through the hole in the disc, besides making a 
tight partition between the two kinds of cement when they 
are forced into the joint. 

Flexible gaskets are used in this joint in the same way 
as in the plain pipe Securitas joint to retain the packing 
compound. The gaskets are made slightly larger than the 
spigot end, in order that the latter may be easily introduced 

589 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

into them. When the pliable compound is forced into the 
joint the gaskets are pressed firmly in place around the end 
of the spigot, as shown. One gasket is placed just above 
the end of the spigot, and another higher up, so as to bear 
against and make tight with the sheet metal ring, as shown 
in Figs. 540 and 542. 




Fig. 542. 




Fig. 543 



The Portland cement is first inserted either in a rather 
thick or stiff state through the opening around the bell or 
in a thinner or fluid state through a special threaded open- 
ing shown in Fig. 544. The pliable compound is after- 
wards inserted in the manner already described after the 
Portland cement has set, the small threaded plug inserted, 
and the joint is complete. 

The larger the pipe the smaller, comparatively, the amount 
of cements required. Thus in a street main, shown in Fig. 
548, the joint takes up relatively a much smaller amount of 
room than in a small plumbers' pipe, shown in Fig. 540. 

590 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

For calking large street mains the pressure may be eco- 
nomically and very quickly applied by steam pressure, a 
portable boiler and steam pump being moved from joint 



Fig. 548. 



to joint, the boiler providing the energy both for pumping 
and locomotion, the only hard labor necessary consisting of 
opening and closing a valve after connecting the hose with 
the joint, and then capping up the supply nozzle. 




Fig. 544. 



Figs. 541 to 547, inclusive, show a method of the writer's 
for obtaining bends in piping of considerable angle without 
employing special fittings and without producing uneven 
interior surfaces or pockets. Two small bevelled rings are 



591 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

placed in the joint under the spigot, under the spigot end. 
When it is desired to set the two pipes in straight align- 
ment, so that the axis of one shall be a continuation of that 
of the other in the same direction, one of the small rings is 
placed upon the other in such a position that their two in- 
clined edges shall exactly offset each other; or, in other 




Fig. 545. Fig. 546. Fig 547. 

words, that the widest side of one ring shall come over the 
narrowest side of the other, making the arrangement shown 
in Fig. 542. When, on the other hand, it is desired that the 
two pipes shall be set at the greatest possible angle with 
each other, the relative arrangement of the two small rings 
is exactly the reverse, the two wide sides coming over each 
other. An intermediate arrangement of the rings will pro- 
duce an angle in the pipe alignment intermediate between 
the two. 

In order to facilitate the setting of the pipes in the exact 
angle desired without protractors or guesswork, figures are 
cast on one of the rings, Fig. 546, which denote the exact 
number of degrees the upper pipe will slope beyond the 
straight line when the small arrow cast on the other ring, 
Fig. 545, is placed over that particular figure. Thus, if the 
arrow is placed over the sign O, the axis of the two pipes 
will form no angle with each other, and the pipes will be 
known to be in exact alignment. If the arrow is placed 
over the figure 5, the pipes will incline with each other at 
an angle of exactly 5 degrees, and the pitch thus attained 

592 



Improvements in Pipe Jointing. 

may easily be carried up as high as 10 or 15 degrees, pro- 
ducing, in the case of large street mains, a considerable de- 
gree of convenience and economy. The degrees between 
0° and 5 and between 5 and io° and between io° and 15 




tfig. 548. 
593 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

may be designated by simple notches in smaller pipes, and 
the small rings have cup and spigot edges not only to 
insure accurate setting but also to permit of the use of 
small gaskets to serve as barriers for the escape of the hard 
and soft cements when forced in to make up the joint. 

If the Portland cement is to be applied in a liquid state 
it is necessary that the annular opening of the cup around 
the spigot pipe should be temporarily closed in order to 
prevent the escape of the cement. Figs. 541 and 544 show 
a form of mechanism we have designed to effect this easily 
and quickly. 

The small sleeve, shown in Fig. 541, around the spigot 
end has for its object to permit of both a longitudinal and 
a rotary play in the same joint, a complication, however, 
which in practice might never be required. Small perfora- 
tions in this sleeve permit the elastic filling compound to fill 
the space between the sleeve and the pipe. 

Thus we have obtained the flexible joint long needed for 
safety, convenience, and economy. It permits of the safe 
use of "Standard" in place of "Extra heavy" thickness in 
pipes, as explained in the note on Pages 694 and 695. The 
very great saving in the weight of the pipe and in the mak- 
ing up of the joints reduces the cost of this system of 
piping to less than half that of the ordinary barbarous 
and unreliable bell and spigot joint now in vogue. 



S94 




CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Open Setting for Plumbing Work. 
The General Arrangement of Plumbing Work. 

All the piping of a 
house should be as far as 
possible in full view. 
Nothing should be walled 
in or covered over and 
rendered inaccessible. One 
of the first rules of mod- 
ern sanitary work is to 
bring everything out of 
the darkness into light and air, where defects, if they occur, 
can at once be detected and removed. We are accustomed 
to running our steam pipes in plain sight, and rendering 
them by gilding or silvering as ornamental as possible, and 
this custom is now found to be proper also for plumbing 
pipes, which can be even more handsomely treated with 
white porcelain enamel. Where they pass through parlors 
or reception rooms, they should stand behind movable panels 
or doors. A little ingenuity on the part of the architect will 
generally enable this to be done with good effect. The 
owner should be so proud of his plumbing that his first im- 
pulse will be to entertain his guests with the exhibition of his 
attractive and scientific arrangements for their safety while 
under his roof, and the hinged panels should be treated with 
the full artistic consideration their importance justifies. 

Bath Room Ventilation. 
Thorough ventilation is a most important feature in 



595 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

bath-room construction. A window opening on the outer 
air is usually provided and, in many plumbing regulations 
exclusively required as a sufficient means to this end. The 
substitution of interior ventilating flues not being permit- 
ted, however ample its size and powerful its draft. 

Now when a bath-room window is opened, especially in 
winter, the ventilation produced consists of a rush of air 
into instead of out of the room, and the effect produced is 
precisely the opposite to what is desired. Instead of re- 
moving the bad air of the bath-room from the house, as it 
should, it simply forces it from the bath-room into the liv- 
ing-rooms, parlors, dining-rooms and reception rooms, 
where its presence is least to be desired. Moreover, win- 
dow ventilation is only operative when the window is 
opened, and this is very apt to be neglected when most 
needed. People in bath-room costume, or lack of costume, 
are generally opposed to draughts. 

A properly constructed ventilating flue, on the contrary, 
is always operative ; and, more than that, it is always opera- 
tive in exactly the right way, that is, in hurrying all bad 
air entirely up to the roof, and out of the house, with a 
speed and volume proportional to its effectiveness. Not 
only is the air of the bath-room kept constantly pure by 
this form of ventilation, but the adjoining rooms are also 
correspondingly ventilated and the whole house is benefited 
in proportion to the effectiveness of the flue action. For 
anyone who fears the presence of disease germs in the air 
of a bath-room it is evidently all the more important that 
the ventilating current should be continuous, and correctly 
directed, or, in other words, scientific and useful, instead of 
fortuitous and injurious. 

It is a curious fact that those who have the least knowl- 
edge of the science of plumbing are generally the ones 

596 



Bath-Room Ventilation. 

who have the most unreasoning fear of germs in the air of 
bath-rooms, and, at the same time, the most senseless ideas 
as to how to get rid of them, and these unscientific persons 
are the most stubborn in insisting upon the necessity and 
sufficiency of window ventilation for bath-rooms. The cost 
of plumbing is thus again immensely and foolishly in- 
creased, and valuable window space is sacrificed for no use- 
ful purpose in ventilation whatever. 

As for sunlight, which would sometimes be admitted as 
an incidental advantage of window bath-room ventilation, 
this is useful everywhere, but always more useful in living- 
rooms than in bath-rooms. Since window area is very 
precious, especially in city houses, it should be reserved 
for the places where it is most needed, and that is not in 
bath-rooms. Sunlight is hostile to disease germs, but mod- 
ern science has demonstrated that germs are, as we have 
seen, equally hostile to sewers and plumbing pipes, so that 
it is now known to be no longer required for bath-rooms, 
whereas for all other rooms in a house it is very valuable, 
and usually essential for healthfulness. Artificial light is 
entirely sufficient for bath-rooms and, properly placed, is 
more useful there than sunlight, because it may be applied 
in such a manner as to increase, or even develop alone by 
its heat, the ventilation of the flue. A good bath-room ven- 
tilating flue may renew the entire air of a bath-room every 
ten minutes, and since all this air purification must effect 
by just so much the adjoining rooms of the house, the great 
superiority of this method over the costly window ventila- 
tion is obvious. 

Instead, therefore, of legislation insisting upon window 
ventilation for bath and toilet-rooms, where disease germs 
are feared in sewer gas, it would be far more rational to 
prohibit this method for such rooms because of the objec- 

597 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

tion that it will inevitably drive the foul air into the house 
and to require the ventilation to be done by adequate ven- 
ilating flues, constructed in such a manner as to ensure the 
discharge of this bad air out of and above the roof of the 
house. 

It is interesting to note the very remarkable progress 
which has been made in these matters within the last few 
years. Fig. 554 shows the elaborate manner in which 
plumbing was only twenty-five years ago buried out of sight 
as if it were something to be mortally ashamed of. The 
fixtures themselves were not disguised. They were even 
decorated to the last degree and with the utmost ostentation. 
But, strangely enough, all evidences which were needed to 
insure the users that the plumbing was entirely safe and 
could be freely enjoyed without fear of danger, were care- 
fully concealed from view. 

Now nothing is tolerated which is not in open sight as 
shown in Fig 552, ?nd the exterior surfaces of the fixtures 
are treated even more decoratively than the interiors were 
before. What can be more sensible and attractive than the 
display of these brightly polished working parts of the fix- 
tures, which insure sanitation as well as decoration? 

Fig. 554 is from Hellyer's treatise on plumbing published 
in 188.., shows a very healthful treatment of enclosed 
plumbing. Nothing could be more charming than the ar- 
rangement of this bath and dressing room, as will be seen 
by examining the plan on the left. But today the safety 
of the users would be considered as well as their aesthetic 
sense by opening up the piping and tiling the floor as well as 
the walls. 

Fig. 555 gives another attractive piece of plumbing work 
taken from Mr. Hellyer's interesting book. It shows a part 
of a very tiny cottage whose owner was too poor to have 

598 



The General Arrangement of Plumbing Work. 




Fig. 554. 
Fig. 555. 



599 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

a regular bath room. But he was determined to have a bath 
tub at any cost for his hard-working housewife and built it 
in a warm corner of the kitchen disguised as a seat. How- 
ever unconventional this may seem, the idea is nevertheless 
by no means to be despised, for this man saw that cleanliness 
was none the less next to godliness because obtained at some 
sacrifice. 



600 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

The Siphonage and Evaporation of Traps.* 

Report to the Boston City Board of Health. 
To the Boston City Board of Health :— 

Gentlemen: — The experiments heretofore made in this 
country on the siphonage of traps have faithfully shown 
the siphoning power of those fixtures which are in most 
common use ; and have established the relative strengths of 
the various forms of best known traps in resisting such 
power. 

You have seen that these experiments have been made 
and recorded with a degree of care which renders it super- 
fluous to experiment further in the same field. But the 
fixtures in common use are not the ones which produce 
the most powerful action of siphonage, and as they are not 
the only ones used, it is evidently necessary, in order to pre- 
sent a full and correct view of the subject, to supplement 
the former experiments with others made in a new direc- 
tion. 

The tests have hitherto been made with common pan and 
hopper closets. It remains to investigate the action of 
plunger-closets,f and these will serve to illustrate also the 
maximum power of valve-closets, which we assume to 
occupy a position, in respect to siphonage, intermediate be- 
tween plunger and ordinary hopper closets. 



*Reprinted from the "American Architect and Building News" of 
1884, giving the Author's first public Report on Trap Siphonage and 
Evaporation, made for the Board of Health in 1883 and 1884. 

tThe modern siphon jet closets produce an effect of siphonage simi- 
lar to that produced by the plunger closets in common use at the tim« 
of this report. 

601 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

In the former experiments a single round or pot trap 
was tested; but since these traps may be made of various 
sizes, from that which has a body but little larger than that 
of an ordinary i l / 2 " S-trap, up to the largest whose body 
measures 8 or 10 inches in diameter, and as their power 
of resistance to siphonic action is totally dependent on their 
size, the smallest being but slightly more resistant than an 
S-trap of equal depth of seal, and the largest being practi- 
ally unsiphonable, you have recognized the necessity, in 
order to arrive at correct conclusions as to the efficiency of 
this trap, of testing them all, and publishing the results in 
regular tabular form. 

The third subject which your Board has given us for in- 
vestigation is one upon which nothing has to our knowl- 
edge as yet been published ; but which has, in view of the 
recent plumbing regulations enacted in different parts of 
this country, assumed a vast importance. The special ven- 
tilation of traps in the manner now customary, induces a 
current of air over the water-seal, which lowers its level 
more or less rapidly according to the velocity, temperature, 
and hygometric condition of the air current. 

It is sometimes recommended by sanitary engineers and 
plumbers to connect the vent-pipe with a heated flue, in 
order to insure an upward current. Accordingly we have 
made our tests on trap-ventilation both with heated and 
with cold flues, and in order to give them as wide an appli- 
cation as possible, we have tested the traps in various posi- 
tions, and applied the vent-pipes to various parts of the 
trap. 

Finally, we have studied the effect of back pressure on 
traps, and in this direction as well as in the others, we 
have endeavored to apply tests as severe as could ever pos- 
sibly be encountered in practice. 

602 




*' 



X'rj/ 




ytfrtJt 



Fig. 1 (555). 
Apparatus for Trap Testing. 
603 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

The apparatus used for making our tests is illustrated in 
the accompanying drawings. 

Figure i represents a straight stack of 4" soil-pipe, 
such as is used in ordinary house-plumbing. The stack is 
built exactly perpendicular, and without bends from the out- 
let above the roof to the horizontal run under the basement 
floor, a distance of 70' 9". The soil-pipe was run up straight 
in this manner in order to furnish the conditions for the 
severest possible tests for siphonage and back-pressure. At 
the same time it forms the arrangement most commonly 
met with in practice, and the one most to be recommended. 
The unbroken fall of the water through such a pipe evi- 
dently creates the most powerful compression of the air 
in advance of it, and the greatest rarification behind it. 

Just below the fourth floor is placed a large cistern, 44" 
long, 16" wide, 15" up to overflow, inside measure ; or of 46 
gallons capacity. The cistern served also to illustrate the 
action of a bath-tub, by having a i l / 2 " discharge-pipe at its 
bottom trapped with a Bower's large size trap, and entering 
the soil-pipe just above the entrance of the water-closet 
waste. 

The water-closet used was one of Zane's plunger water- 
closets, a kind well known, and widely used in this country. 
To expedite its filling a large service-pipe from the cistern 
was used, and the water was allowed to fill the cistern 
through a brcss compression-cock. The water-closet is 
supplied with a regular overflow-pipe, so that, when full, 
its capacity is always the same. This capacity is a little over 
4j4 gallons in the closet used in these experiments. 

To test the effect on traps below of emptying the tank 
after the manner of a flush-tank, a 4-inch outlet-valve and 
waste-pipe were fitted up in the manner shown. 

Outlets were left on each story below the water-closet 

604 



Report to the City Board of Health. 

for testing the traps at various heights on the stack. The 
soil-pipe was ventilated at the top full-size, and had the 
usual foot-vent. This completes the apparatus for the ex- 
periments on siphonage and back-pressure. 

For the experiments on evaporation a 4" galvanized-iron 
flue was erected by the side of the soil-pipe. This flue 
terminated just below the first floor in a galvanized-iron 
lantern, with a glass door on its front side. A 1J/2" rubber 
tube was connected with the bottom of the lantern, and 
an anemometer was placed above the point of connection 
in an enlargement made to receive it. The anemometer was 
so arranged and placed that it would measure accurately the 
current of air passing through the rubber tube in either 
direction. The galvanized-iron flue could be tested either 
cold, or heated by gas-jets as shown in the drawing. A 
second lantern was placed on the third floor, with a similar 
appliance for heating the flue. 

A 1 y 2 " lead waste-pipe was connected with the soil-pipe 
just above the basement floor. This branch waste had a 
number of ventilating openings made upon it, and a deep- 
seal S-trap at its end. The trap had three ventilating open- 
ings in its outlet arm, one at the crown, and the others 
below the crown as shown. All the vent openings both on 
the trap and on the branch waste were provided with 
small connecting tubes so arranged that the rubber ventilat- 
ing flue could be readily attached to either. The openings 
were, furthermore, all provided with closely fitting corks, 
so that they could be hermetically sealed. By this arrange- 
ment the effect of ventilation at different points of the trap 
or its waste-pipe upon its water-seal could be accurately 
tested. Further tests on evaporation were made by con- 
necting a second branch waste below the first with a brick 
flue heated by a stove. 

605 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, show various 
traps tested in these experiments. Other traps were tested 
at the same time with these at the request of the manufac- 
turers. Still others were sent us on the invitation of your 
Board ; but as none of these traps except those shown, were 




Fig. 5 (559). 



Fig. 6 (560). 



able to preserve their seal against the tests applied, and as 
most of them have already been tested in the experiments 
for the National Board of Health, and the tests published, 
by which their power of resistance as relates to that of a 
ventilated S and to a pot-trap was made known, it has been 

606 



Report to the City Board of Health. 

thought unnecessary to publish the results obtained in these 
experiments. The records on any of these traps will, how- 
ever, be cheerfully sent to its proprietor upon his request. 
Our tests fall under three general divisions: (I) Siphon- 
age; (II) Back-Pressure; (III) Evaporation. 

I. Experiments on Siphonage. 

These experiments are subdivided into (A) those on 
ventilated S-traps ; and (B) those on pot and other traps, 
unventilated. Except where otherwise specified, the tests 
were made at the outlet on the second floor, at a distance 
of about n' below the bottom of the water-closet trap, 
since at this point the siphonage proved to be most severe. 













r l( fi 


1 MttcAatyt 


M 


jggggjj 


( 
■fo 













Fig. 7 (561). 




Fig. 8 (562). 



(A) Experiments on Ventilated S-Traps. 
These experiments are again divided into : — 
(i) Those in which the siphonic action was produced by 

a trapped plunger-closet, with and without the combination 

of a bath-tub. 

(2) Those in which a trapless plunger-closet was used. 

(1) Experiments on the Siphonage of Ventilated S-Traps 



607 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



by a Trapped Plunger Water-closet. 
The tests were made first with the water-closet alone. 

(a) An unventilated S-trap was, of course, completely 
siphoned out by a single discharge of the closet. 

(b) A i%" ordinary cast-lead S-trap, having a i%" vent- 
hole at the crown, and a i}i" pipe of smooth clean lead 17' 
long attached at the opening was then tested. Three dis- 




Fig. 11 (565). Fig. 12 (566). 

charges of the closet were sufficient to break the seal. The 
experiment was repeated several times with the same result, 
(c) A iy 2 " cast-lead S-trap, constructed as shown in 
Figure 13, was tested. The vent opening at the crown was 
i%" i n diameter; the others were i 1 /*" in diameter. 

608 



Report to the City Board of Health. 

A 1*4" pipe 7' long was attached to the vent opening at 
the crown, the others being closed. Five discharges of the 
closet sufficed to break the seal. 

The pipe was increased to 17'. The seal was then broken 
by four discharges. 

This opening was then closed and the long pipe was at- 
tached to the middle vent. The first discharge of the closet 
iowered the seal ij£". The second broke the seal. 

The lower vent was then tested with the same pipe, 17' 
long. Four discharges were required to break the seal. 

(d) The effect of the discharge of the water-closet while 
the bath-tub was emptying was then observed. 

An ordinary i%" S-trap was first tested. With a vent 
opening the full size with the bore of the trap, but without 
vent-pipe, a single discharge of the water-closet and bath- 
tub together lowered the seal %". A second discharge failed 
to lower the water any further. 

(e) A 1 %" vent-pipe 7' long was then attached to the 
opening. The first discharge nearly broke the seal ; the 
second not only broke it but left the water standing l / 2 " 
below the mouth of the inlet-pipe. Three other tests gave 
the same results. 

(/) The vent-pipe was then lengthened to 17'. A single 
discharge broke the seal, and swept nearly all the water out 
of the trap. Three repetitions of the test produced the same 
results. 

The vent-opening was then reduced to one inch, and no 
vent-pipe attached. Two discharges broke the seal. 

(g) The i l / 2 " common cast-lead trap was then tested. 

Tested with the \]/\" vent open at the crown, but without 
any vent-pipe attached to it, a single discharge lowered the 
seal Y\" . A second discharge produced no further effect. 

(h) With a i}i" vent-pipe 7' long attached to this open- 

609 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

ing seven discharges sufficed to break the seal. 

(i) With the vent-pipe increased to 17', two discharges 
not only broke the seal but nearly emptied the trap. Sub- 
stantially the same result was obtained upon repeating the 
experiment twice. 

(/) A ij^" pipe 20' long was attached to the vent open- 
ing. Two discharges broke the seal. 

The vent-opening was then reduced to %"-\-, and no 
vent-pipe attached. Two discharges broke the seal. 

(k) The middle vent was then tested. With a vent-pipe 
1%" m diameter (inside measure in all cases being under- 
stood) and only 8" long, the water-seal was lowered j/2" by 
two discharges. A third discharge did not increase this 
loss. 

(/) With a i)4" pipe 7' long attached a single discharge 
broke the seal. 

(m) A \y 2 " pipe 20' long was attached; a single dis- 
charge broke the seal. 

(«) The lower vent was then tested. A ij4* pipe 20' 
long was attached. Two discharges broke the seal. A 
repetition of the experiments produced substantially the 
same result. 

It must here be noted that the connections between the 
traps to be tested and the branches on the soil-pipe were 
made by means of i%" copper tubes soldered into a lead 
cap on 4" Y-branches, as shown in Figure 13. The outlet 
arms of the several traps tested were slid over this i%" 
copper tube, and made tight with putty. The connection 
being only \ l /\" , when i l / 2 " traps were tested, the suction 
on their seal was evidently somewhat restricted by the con- 
traction. Hence the records of the experiments on traps 
having \ l / 2 " outlets may safely be accepted as well within 

610 



Report to the City Board of Health. 

the limits of actual power of the siphonage produced at 
this point on the 4" Y-branches. 

The above recorded tests were all made on the second 
floor at a distance of 11' below the water-closet trap. Back- 
pressure was here hardly perceptible. Tested on the first 
floor the siphonic action was much weaker, but a slight 
back-pressure was observable. On the basement floor the 
siphonic action was quite feeble, but back-pressure was ex- 
ceedingly strong. 

Deductions from the Experiments with the Trapped 
Plunger-Closet. 
From the experiments thus far recorded we learn that the 
siphonic action which may be produced by a trapped 
plunger water-closet under certain simple conditions which 
are likely to be encountered in plumbing, is sufficient to un- 
seal small S-traps, such as are ordinarily used for lavatories, 
though they be ventilated either at or below the crown in 
the manner prescribed by the plumbing regulations with 
vent-pipes of the full size of the trap, and that it makes no 
material difference as to siphonage whether the vent-pipe 
be applied immediately at the crown or at a considerable 
distance below it. This action takes place even when the 
pipes are clean and new. When partially closed or clogged 
with sediment the results would be even more serious. 

(2) Experiments on the Siphonage of Ventilated S-Traps 
by a Trapless Plunger Water-Closet. 
(a) The tests were made first with the water-closet alone. 
A ij4" ordinary cast-lead S-trap having a vent-opening at 
the crown the full size of the trap (i l A") was tested without 
a vent-pipe. The first discharge of the closet reduced the 
seal y$ '; the second J4"; the third produced no further 
effect. 

611 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

The same trap was then tested with 17' of \]/\" pipe 
attached to the vent-opening. Four discharges of the closet 
destroyed the seal. 

On another occasion the same trap with 7' of 1%" pipe 
attached to the vent-opening lost its seal in four discharges. 

A 1^2" S-trap was then tested at the outlet on the first 
floor. With the water-closet alone, and a i l / 2 " vent-pipe 
20' long attached to a i%" opening in the crown of the trap 
three discharges removed y of the seal. 

The same with a i)4" vent-pipe 7' long lost its seal in ten 
discharges. 

(b) The tests were next made with the water-closet and 
bath-tub discharging together. 

A ij4" S-trap with 20' of Ij4" vent-pipe lost its seal in 
five discharges. With 17' of \ l /\" pipe a single discharge 
broke the seal; with 7' of 1%." pipe seven discharges sufficed 
and on a second trial only three discharges. 

Tests were then made on the floor below (first floor). 
The iY 2 " S-trap with i%" vent at the crown and 17' of 
I /4" pip e l° st its seal in three discharges. In a second and 
third trial the seal was destroyed in two discharges. 

The same, with a i 1 /*" vent-pipe 20' long, lost its seal 
in four discharges. 

A iy 2 " S-trap vent-opening at the crown, and a i%" vent- 
pipe 17' long lost its seal in four discharges, and on a 
second trial in a single discharge. 

Deduction from the Experiments with he Trapless Plunger- 
Closet. 

From these tests we find that the effect of siphonage pro- 
duced by the discharge of a trapless plunger-closet is not 
appreciably severer than that produced by one having a 
trap, provided the trap is constructed of smooth material, 

612 



Report to the City Board of Health. 

has a shallow seal, and is placed near the water in the 
bowl. The increase of friction is in this case so slight that 
the manner in which the water discharges into the soil-pipe 
is not materially modified. 

(B) Experiments on Pot and Other Traps Unventi- 

LATED. 

These experiments are divided into : — 
(i) Those in which the siphonic action was produced by 
a trapped closet. 

(2) Those in which a trapless plunger-closet was used. 

(3) Those in which a flush-tank was used. 

(1) Experiments on the Siphonage of Unventilated Pot 

and other Traps by a Trapped Plunger Water-Closct. 

(a) The tests were first made with the water-closet and 

bath-tub discharging together. The pot-traps had l 1 /^' or 

\%" inlet and outlet arms. 

A 2" pot-trap had its seal broken, and the water lowered 
l / 2 " below the top of the inlet mouth by a single discharge. 
Five discharges lowered the water nearly to the bottom of 
the mouth (see Fig. 2). 

A 2 l / 2 " pot-trap lost its seal in two discharges (see Fig. 

3)- 

A 3" pot-trap lost its seal in four discharges (see Fig. 4). 
A 2^/2" pot-trap lost its seal in seven discharges (see Fig. 

5)- 

A 4" pot-trap lost its seal in seven discharges (See Fig. 6). 
A 5" pot-trap lost its seal in twenty-two discharges (see 

Fig- 7). 

A 6" pot-trap lost its seal in twenty-seven discharges (see 
Fig. 8). 

An 8" pot-trap lost i l / 2 " of its seal in twenty-four dis- 
charges (see Fig. 9). 

613 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

A 4" bottle-trap lost its seal in fifteen discharges (see 
Fig. 10). 

A 4" Holland's trap retained 1/16" seal after forty dis- 
charges (see Fig. 11). 

A "Sanitas" anti-siphon trap retained over ^4" after fifty 
discharges (see Fig. 12). 

The loss of water in the Holland's trap in the last ten 
discharges was exceedingly slow, showing this trap, which 
is similar in outward appearance to the 4" bottle-trap, to 
offer much greater resistance to siphonic action than a 
bottle-trap of the same genet al dimensions. 

The rate of loss in the "Sanitas" trap constantly dimin- 
ished after the first few discharges. Several experiments 
were made on this as on the other traps. Figure 12 shows 
the effect of sixteen discharges. Figure 25 represents in 
diagram the record of another experiment on the same 
trap where the test was prolonged to fifty discharges. It 
will be observed that the loss towards the end was scarcely 
perceptible. In the first ten discharges in this experiment 
the seal was lowered iffi. In the next ten the loss was only 
one-eighth of an inch, which is equivalent to one-eightieth 
of an inch for each discharge. In the third ten discharges 
i. e., one whose top stood 6" above top of seal was first tested 
it was still further reduced to one-sixteenth of an inch. In 
the fourth to less than one-sixteenth of an inch, and in the 
last ten to still less, or about one thirty-second of an inch. 
As there still remained over y±" seal the trap may be con- 
sidered as practically unsiphonable. 

Figures 14 to 24 inclusive represent in diagram the re- 
sult of the experiments already described on "pot" and 
"bottle" traps. 

The perpendicular lines represent the depth of seal of 
the traps. 

614 



Report to the City Board of Health. 






4'J=bf\ ( 3'A'P<A [a'Pat;\ 










Fig. 14 Fig. 15 

(568). (569). 

Fig. 20 Fig. 21 

(574). (575). 



Fig. 16 Fig. 17 

(570). (571). 

Fig. 22 Fig. 23 

(576). (577). 



Fig. 18 Fig 19 

(572). (573). 

Fig. 24 Fig. 25 

(578)^, (579). 



The circles indicate conventionally the outlet and inlet 
mouths of the traps, and the horizontal lines the loss of 
water at each discharge. 

(b) A 4" pot-trap was then tested with the water-closet 

615 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

alone. Its seal was broken by sixteen discharges (See Fig. 
22). 

(c) a ^y 2 " pot-trap was then tested with the flush-tank. 
The first discharge almost and the second entirely broke the 
seal. Nevertheless, in other experiments made with the 
flush-tank the siphonic action proved less severe than that 
produced by the simultaneous discharge of the water-closet 
and bath-tub. 

Deductions from the Experiments on Pot and other Traps. 

From the above experiments we learn that the power of 
resistance of "pot-traps" depends upon their size, and more 
particularly upon the diameter of the body. It will be ob- 
served that the depth of seal of the 4" pot-trap is only 2^/2", 
while that of the 3^" pot-trap is 3^2". This accounts for 
the similarity in the results of the tests on these two sizes. 
A half an inch excess of diameter of the body offsets, in 
the first series of tests, one inch excess in depth of seal. 

It will be observed that, had the seal of all the traps 
tested been the same in depth, *'. e., 2^/2 ', the resistance would 
have been in direct and regular proportion to the diameter. 
Thus, in the first series of tests — 

A 2" pot would have lost its seal in less than one dis- 
charge. 

A 2 l / 2 " pot would have lost its seal in one discharge. 

A 3" pot would have lost its seal in two discharges. 

A 33/2" pot would have lost its seal in three discharges. 

A 4" pot would have lost its seal in seven discharges. 

A 5" pot would have lost its seal in ten discharges. 

A 6" pot would have lost its seal in twenty-eight dis- 
charges. 

An 8" pot would probably have resisted over one hundred 
discharges. 

616 



Report to the City Board of Health. 

Hence (i) the resisting power of pot-traps of equal depth 
of seal is in direct proportion to the diameter of the body. 

(2) No pot-trap whose body does not exceed in sectional 
area 15 times that of each of its arms or connecting pipes 
can be accepted as anti-siphonic under all conditions likely 
to be encountered in plumbing. 

(3) Pot-traps having bodies 6" in diameter and having 
1 Yz" or 134" connections may, however, be considered safe 
when they are not exposed to the repeated action of plunger 
water-closets of the largest water-capacity. 

II. Experiments on Back Pressure. 

These experiments were made on the basement flooi, just 
above the horizontal run of the soil-pipe. They may be sub- 
divided into (A) those in which the traps were tested with- 
out vertical extension of the inlet arm; and (B) those in 
which the traps had their inlet arms extended. The water- 
closet used was a Zane's trapped plunger-closet. 

(A) Experiments on Traps without Vertical Extension. 

(a) An S-trap having the ordinary length of inlet-arm, 
under the discharge of the water-closet alone. The first 
discharge threw the water out of the trap, projecting it 
several feet in the air, and broke the seal. The experiment 
was often repeated with the same result. 

(b) The same result attended the discharge of the water- 
closet, simultaneously with the bath-tub, only that the 
greater power of the action threw out more water from the 
trap, leaving the level considerably below the top of the 
mouth of the inlet-pipe. Several repetitions of the test pro- 
duced the same result. 

(c) The above experiments were repeated with a trap- 
less plunger-closet. The results were substantially the same. 

(d) A 4" pot-trap lost its seal in four discharges of the 

C17 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



water-closet alone. The top of the inlet-arm stood 2" above 
the top of the seal. 

(e) The same trap lost its seal in a single discharge of 
the water-closet and bath-tub together. 

(/) The same traps were tested with a trapless plunger- 
closet, with substantially the same results. Figure 26 shows 
the manner in which the water is blown out of a large pot- 
trap by back-pressure. 




Fig". 26 (580). 

(g) An 8" pot-trap lost 2" of its seal in seven discharges 
of the trapped-closet discharged alone. The top of the 
inlet-pipe stood 3" above the top of the seal. 

(h) The same trap lost its entire seal of 3H" by tne four- 
teen discharges of the water-closet and bath-tub together. 
(B) Experiments on Traps with Vertical Extension. 

(a) An ordinary i l / 2 " cast-lead S-trap with an extension 
of 1' 4" of 1 3/2" lead-pipe attached to the top of its inlet- 

618 



Report to the City Board of Health. 

arm. making the top of the extension 22" above the top of 
the seal was tested. No water was thrown out of the trap 
by the discharge of the water-closet, either trapped or un- 
trapped, and whether alone or together with the bath-tub; 
but in all cases air was forcibly driven through the water 
forced into the inlet-pipe, because the volume of water in 
the trap was insufficient to outweigh the back-pressure. 

(b) The same result attended the tests made with a 24" 
extension-pipe. 

(c) An S-trap having 5" of seal without extension lost 
its seal in all cases ; but with an extension of 1' 4" the water 
was not thrown out by discharges of the water-closet alone, 
or in combination with the bath-tub, and whether the closet 
was trapped or trapless. With this trap, moreover, the 
large volume of water was, with the extension sufficient to 
overbalance the pressure of the air, and no bubbles were 
driven through the trap. 

(d) The same deep trap was then tested after half its 
seal had been removed, as by evaporation, or other accident. 
In this case the trap acted exactly as did the ordinary shal- 
low-sealed, cast-lead S-trap before described, and always 
allowed air to be driven through it. 

(e) A 4" pot-trap was then tested with the 1' 4" exten- 
sion, bringing the top of the pipe 18" above the seal. No 
water was driven out of the trap, and no bubbles forced 
through the water under any of the four conditions under 
which the tests were made as described for the others. 

(/) The same trap with a 6" extension bringing the top 
of the pipe 8" above the top of the seal lost its entire seal in 
two discharges of the water-closet and bath-tub together. 
The volume of the water in the trap was sufficient, but the 
pipe was not long enough to allow of the formation of a 
column sufficiently high to resist the air-pressure. 

619 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

(g) An 8" pot-trap with i' 4" extension lost no water, and 
allowed no air to pass under either of the four tests. 

(h) The same results attended the tests on this trap, hav- 
ing an extension of only 12". 

(i) The trap was next tried with 9" of extension, with the 
same results. 

(/) The extension was finally reduced to 6" bringing the 
top of the pipe 9" above the top of the seal. In this case 
the water was driven out of the trap. 

(k) A "Sanitas" trap was then tested, and the results were 
substantially the same as with the 8" pot-trap. 

Deductions from the Experiments on Back-Pressure. 

From these experiments we learn ( 1 ) that in traps which 
are unventilated back-pressure may be resisted by con- 
structing them in such a manner that they shall contain a 
large volume of water, and by setting them far enough be- 
low the fixture to admit of the formation in the waste-pipe 
above the trap of a column of water large enough to out- 
weigh the back-pressure of the air. 

(2) That the back-pressure in the tests herein recorded 
was sufficient to balance a column of water between 9" and 
12" long, plus the depth of the water forming the seal. Call- 
ing the depth in the average trap 3", our water-column was 
not less than 12" or 15" in height. This is equivalent to one 
thirty-second or one twenty-fifth of an atmosphere, (0.43 
or 0.56 lbs. to the square inch.). 

(3) The back-pressure likely to be encountered in prop- 
erly-plumbed houses will probably never exceed that ob- 
tained in the tests above recorded, since all the conditions 
most favorable to produce it were here combined. Hence 
any trap may be considered safe against back-pressure which 
is so formed as to contain a body of water large enough to 

G20 



Report to the City Board of Health. 

fill the waste-pipe full to a height of 12" or 15" (including 
its own seal), and which is so set as to admit of the forma- 
tion of this column. 

(4) The following is the water capacity of the traps 
tested. 

The 8" pot-trap holds 5 quarts or 10 pints. 

The 6" pot-trap holds 3 quarts or 6 pints. 

The 5" pot-trap holds 2^2 quarts or 5 pints. 

The 4" pot-trap holds 2^4 pints. 

The 2^/2' pot-trap holds 2^ pints. 

The 3" pot-trap holds 2 pints. 

The 2^" pot-trap holds Ij4 pints. 

The 2" pot-trap holds -)4 pint. 

The i l / 2 " S-trap, with 5" seal, holds ^ pints. 

The \y 2 " S-trap, with i*/i" seal, holds 2^+ pints. 

The ij4" S-trap, with ify" seal, holds Y\ — pints. 

The "Sanitas" holds 1^ pints. 

A piece of i l / 2 " waste-pipe 12" long holds about ^ of a 
pint of water. A similar piece 15" long holds a pint. Hence 
a trap used with such a waste-pipe should have a capacity 
of not less than % pint. Accordingly, all unventilated i}4" 
S-traps and all unventilated i 1 /^' S-traps having less than 
5" seal are incapable of resisting the back-pressure liable to 
be encountered in plumbing. 

III. Experiments on Evaporation Produced by Trap- 
Ventilation. 

These experiments were made in the basement floor, as 
already explained. 

They may be subdivided into (A) those in which the 
vent-pipe was conducted into a cold flue, and (B) those 
in which the vent-pipe was conducted into a heated flue. 

(A) Experiments on Evaporation Produced by a Cold 

621 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Ventilating Flue. 

(a) i%" (scant) S-trap having a seal of 4^$" deep was 
attached to the end of the branch waste in the manner shown 
in Fig. x. A iy 2 " ruober ventilating pipe was taken from 
the i%" ventilating op<r.iing at the crown of the trap, and 
conducted into a cold 4" galvanized iron ventilating flue, 




Fig. 27 Fig. 28 
(581) (582) 



JIM. 



^^y^Sy^y^/ 



9 —I 
to 

1S 



u/ 



/6 
/7 



2/ 
22 



23 



Z4 — 



36 

30 
3' 



Vcfe/ 



2 | 

9 

H 



/S 
/6 

/? 
20 

2Z 



\Jm 



Fig. 20 Figs. 30 31 32 33 34 

(583) (584) (585) (586) (587) (588) 



shown in the drawing. This flue passed through two oc- 
cupied offices (basement and first floor) whose temperature 
was maintained at about 68° Fahrenheit, during the term of 
the experiments, and. through a chemical laboratory (sec- 
ond floor) whose temperature' was maintained at about 6o° 

622 






Report to the City Board oe Health. 

Fahrenheit. For the remainder of its height the flue passed 
through a cellar and stairways, whose temperature was 
maintained at about 45 ° Fahrenheit. No artificial heat was 
applied to the flue. 

The velocity of the movement of the current of air in 
the flue was measured by the anemometer. The daily rate 
of loss of seal by evaporation, and the velocity of the cur- 
rent in feet per minute is shown in actual size by the ac- 
companying diagram, Fig. 27* to 29. 

We see that the loss averages about an eighth of an inch 
per diem. It amounts to about a quarter of an inch the 
first day, and gradually diminishes as the level of the water 
descends in the trap, and the distance of its surface from 
the ventilating current increases, to a little less than an 
eighth of an inch per diem. Hence an ordinary S-trap hav- 
ing a iy 2 " or a ij4" seal would lose its seal in from nine 
to eleven days. 

(b) The experiment was repeated several times at dif- 
ferent parts of the year, from the middle of December to 
the middle of May, with substantially the same results. Fig. 
29 represents the record of a second of these experiments. 

(c) The same trap was now vented at the middle open- 
ing, whose center was 2" below the center of the upper 
opening. The rate of evaporation was somewhat slower, 
as shown by diagram, Fig. 28. This experiment was car- 
ried on only eleven days, inasmuch as by this time i l / 2 " 
of the seal had been destroyed, and the seal of ordinary 
machine-made S-traps does not exceed \ l / 2 " or iffi. 

(d) The same trap was now ventilated at the lowest point, 
i. e., 6" below the crown. The evaporation in this case was 
exceedingly slow and after the first two or three days was 
almost inappreciable. 



*These cuts have since been reduced to about 1-2 their original 
dimensions, so that they are now about on-half full size. 

623 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

(e) A number of experiments were then made on S-traps 
unventilated but open in both ends as is the case in prac- 
tice. The loss of water was almost inappreciable, not ex- 
ceeding 1/32 or 1/16 of an inch in ten days. 

(B) Experiments on Evaporation Produced by a Heated 
Ventilating Flue. 

(a) A i l / 2 " trap having a seal 3^" was tested. A i l / 2 " 
wrought iron gas pipe 6" long connected the crown of the 
trap with a brick flue 8"xi2", heated by a stove. See Fig. 1. 

Diagrams, Figs. 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34, represent five tests, 
two made in March, one in October and two in November 
of 1883. Here again the perpendicular lines represent, in 
actual length, the depth of seal of the trap. The upper arc 
represents conventionally the outlet mouth, and the lower 
arc the inlet mouth of the trap. The horizontal lines show 
the position of the water level in the trap at the same hour 
in the morning of each day recorded in figures on the 
diagram. 

We see here a very rapid diminution of the seal. The 
average loss per diem exceeded one-third of an inch, or 
exactly four-elevenths of an inch. The smallest loss is one- 
eighth of an inch, and the largest nearly seven-eighths of 
an inch. The fixture side of the trap was closed during 
the tests. 

(b) A second series of experiments was made with an 
ordinary i l / 2 " cast lead trap having a seal \]/ 2 " deep. The 
trap was connected with the heated flue at a point 3" be- 
yond the crown. Four tests were made. The loss of seal 
was much slower than in the former tests because of the 
distance of the mouth of the vent-pipe from the crown of 
the trap. The rate of evaporation, however, in these four 
tests averaged one-seventh of an inch a day, the greatest 
loss in any one day being three-eighths of an inch. In all 

624 






Report to the City Board of Health. 

these experiments on evaporation it was found to make no 
material difference in the results whether the fixture end 
of the trap was open or closed, showing that evaporation at 
this point was inappreciable. 

In the experiments on evaporation with the cold venti- 
lating flue, in the first experiment with the vent at crown, 
the anemometer recorded an average rate of movement of 
the ventilating current of 112,567', or 203/2 miles, every 
twenty-four hours, or, with the correction for friction ap- 
plied, of 94' per minute. 

In the second test, with vent at crown, the average was 
85' per minute ; with vent 2" from crown the average was 
109'. 

The velocity of the current during the cold months of 
the year was quite uniform. In the summer months, how- 
ever, it was exceedingly variable, sometimes equaling that 
of the cold season, and sometimes ceasing entirely, or even 
retrograding. 

In the cold months the relation between the rapidity of 
evaporation and the velocity and dampness of the air cur- 
rent was not accurately determined, the rate of evaporation 
being quite uniform in spite of considerable barometric fluc- 
tuation and change of velocity. 

But in summer a change of the conditions of the atmos- 
phere produced a very marked change in the rate of evapo- 
ration. On a few occasions of damp or rainy weather in 
the summer months, where the cold brick flue was used 
without a ventilating cap on top, the seal actually gained 
slightly in depth, from condensation on the cold flue of the 
damp air of the soil-pipe, or from an actual fall of rain or 
moisture down the chimney. These accretions were, how- 
ever, very rare, not occurring more than three times in the 
whole duration of the experiments. 

The scientific investigation of this branch of the subject 

625 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

would require more elaborate apparatus and much more 
time than have been at our disposal, yet what records we 
have made have been made with accuracy. 

Deductions from the Experiments on Evaporation. 

From these experiments we find ( I ) that a rapid evapo- 
ration of the water seal of traps takes place when they 
are ventilated at or near the crown, and that the evaporation 
goes on both in winter and in summer, and in ordinary 
unheated flues, as well as in flues artificially heated. The 
evaporation is most rapid in winter or with flues artificially 
heated, and slowest in summer, especially in damp weather. 
Hence it may be stated generally that the rapidity of the 
evaporation depends upon the velocity, temperature and 
hygrometric condition of the atmosphere. 

(2) That in winter the evaporation produced by ventila- 
tion is so rapid as to destroy the seal of an ordinary 1J/2" 
machine-made S-trap in from four to eleven days, accord- 
ing to the nature of the current. 

(3) That without ventilation, or with the ventilating flue 
taken from a considerable distance below the crown, the 
evaporation of the water seal of traps is exceedingly slow, 
and that unventilated traps having a considerable water 
capacity may be considered perfectly secure against this 
danger unless they are left unused for years at a time. 

It would obviously be impossible to devise a form of ap- 
paratus for experimental purposes which should cover all 
the varying conditions liable to be met with in plumbing 
practice. The position of the trap on the soil pipe branch, 
the manner and position of connection of the branch with 
the main pipe, the amount of usage the pipes sustained, the 
manner in which the ventilating flues were constructed, 
would all produce their effects upon the results. Never- 

626 



t 



Report to the City Board of Health. 

theless in every case where the ventilating flue performed 
the office of producing a movement of the air within the 
pipes for which it was intended, and this air was absolutely 
saturated with moisture, the evaporation must of necessity 
go on in the manner recorded as the result of these ex- 
periments. How far the variation of the conditions would 
affect the rapidity of the loss of seal must be left to other 
investigators to determine. The apparatus used in the 
above recorded tests was fitted up exactly as is customary 
to fit it up for actual use. The entire length of the soil 
pipe was kept much of the time wet during the experiments 
on evaporation, by discharges through it made for the tests 
on siphonage and back pressure, precaution being, of course, 
taken by closing the inlet end of the trap against loss of 
its seal through these agencies, and the inlet at the end of 
the soil pipe system, where the fresh air was taken in to 
produce the ventilating current above the trap, was distant 
as much as 60' or 70' from the traps tested. Hence the air 
was obliged to traverse a considerable length of damp soil 
pipe, the greater part being nearly horizontal, on its way to 
the trap, and it may therefore be assumed it was conducted 
over as large an area of moist surface as it would ordinarily 
encounter in practice. 

Moreover, the result of our experiments in this direction 
accords with the experience of many sanitary engineers, 
health inspectors and plumbers who have recently had oc- 
casion, since the enactment of the plumbing laws in various 
parts of the country, to observe the effect of the provision 
requiring branch ventilation on the water seal of the traps. 

General Conclusions Deduced from the Experiments 
on Siphonage, Back Pressure and Evaporation. 

From the foregoing experiments we deduce the following: 
(1) The ordinary form of machine-made small S-trap 

627 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

with shallow seal and without special ventilation is incapable 
of resisting the action of siphonage or back pressure, even in 
a very mild form. 

(2) A small S-trap, such as is used for lavatories and 
bath-tubs, even when hand-made, and of unusually deep seal, 
is incapable without special ventilation of resisting the 
action of siphonage or back pressure in a mild form. 

(3) Small S-traps, when ventilated at the crown with 
vent pipes having a diameter the full size of the bore of 
the pipe and of no unusual or excessive length, are incapable 
of resisting the severe action of siphonage produced by the 
simultaneous discharge of certain forms of plunger water- 
closets and ordinary bath tubs under ordinary conditions 
likely to be encountered in practice. 

Water-closets producing a powerful flushing of the soil- 
pipes when discharged should not be prohibited on account 
of their siphoning power, because the periodical flushing of 
the soil pipes by their use is productive of great good, and 
their siphoning action may be counteracted by other means. 

(4) Special trap ventilation when the vent pipe is applied 
at or near the crown of the trap induces a current of air 
over the water which rapidly destroys the seal. 

(5) Trap ventilation when the vent pipe is applied at a 
point so far below the crown as to avoid the danger of 
evaporation leaves the trap open to the danger of self- 
siphonage as well as of severe siphonic action. The position 
of the vent pipe on the trap does not (at least within the 
limits covered by our experiments) materially affect the 
action of siphonage. 

(6) Pot-traps of the ordinary sizes are incapable, with- 
out special trap ventilation, of resisting the severest action 
of siphonage liable to be encountered in plumbing. 

(7) Pot-traps of the largest size are expensive, and are 

628 



Report to the City Board of Health. 

open to the objections attending all cesspools. The positions 
of their clean-out caps are faulty, inasmuch as they are above 
the water line, and would fail to announce, by a leakage of 
water, a faulty adjustment of the cap. 

(Signed) J. P. Putnam, 
L. Fredk. Rice. 
a Pemberton Sq., June, 1884. 



f>29 



CHAPTER XL. 

Review of Dr. Teale's Interesting Work on "Dangers 
to Health/' 



In the original 
course of these lec- 
tures before the 
North End Union a 
number of very strik- 
ing illustrations from 
Dr. Teale's "Dan- 
gers to Health"* 
were reproduced upon 
the screen for the 
purpose of present- 
ing effective warnings 
against certain forms 
of improper work, as 
well as to call at- 
tention to the very 
marked change of 
feeling in regard to 
"sewer gas" which has developed within the last few years. 
At the time this book was written sewer air was supposed 
to swarm with disease germs, Dr. Teale writing in his intro- 
duction: "Moreover, the conviction struck deeply into my 
mind that probably one-third at least of the incidental illness 
of the Kingdom, including perhaps much of childbirth illness 




o89. Drain under 
wrong way. Broken pipe at the 
junction with "soil pipe." 



fall 



* "Dangers to Health. A Pictorial Guide to Domestic Sanitary 
Defects." By T. Pridgin Teale, M. A., Surgeon to the General In- 
firmary at Leeds. Published by J. & J. Churchill. London, 1878. 

630 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health." 

and some of the fatal results of surgical operations in hos- 
pitals and private houses (surgical calamities, Sir James 
Paget would call them;, are the results of drainage defects, 
and therefore can be and ought to be prevented." 

The world had not at the time of the publication of this 
book had the advantage of the discoveries in bacteriology 
recently made as to the freedom of sewer air from patho- 
genic germs, and hence Dr. Teale makes the breathing of 




Fig. 590. Pipes laid with the flange down hill. 

sewer air the direct rather than a possible occasional indirect 
cause of many of the fatalities described. 

Nevertheless the warnings he utters are most interesting 
and serviceable, although the exact form of danger was not 
so clearly understood as it is today, and I have grouped 
his pictures together in one chapter, where I could better 
contrast the more modern interpretation of the defects he 
illustrates with his own view of them, and that of leaders of 
the medical profession of his day. 

The initial cut, Fig. 589, illustrates a case of sickness re- 

631 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

corded by Dr. Teale from a leaky drain, due to very poor 
grading, and Fig. 590 another similar case. In the first a 
broken joint at the foot of the soil pipe, probably caused by 
the settlement of the masonry wall down which the soil pipe 
ran. Breathing the sewer air had the same effect upon the 
patient above that breathing any bad air would have caused. 
It diminished the vital forces and lessened the chances of 
victory of the white corpuscles, so that when she drank the 




... -^ 



Fig. 591. Drain leaking into a well. Water leaking into the milk 

cans. 



milk from the dairy, as shown in Fig. 591, they were 
unable to resist the disease germs conveyed by it. 

In this picture, Fig. 591, the drain pipe from the pigsty 
and cowshed actually passed through the well, the settlement 
of which, or some other accident, broke the pipe, and the 
result was that all the milk from that farm contained sewage 
germs, either from the direct admixture with it of this 
well water, or else by rinsing the cans and other dairy im- 
plements with this water. 



632 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers tc Health." 

These pictures hint to us that a public milk supply is 
at least as important as a public sewerage system. 



' fi ■ 




Fig. 592. Cesspool leaking into a well. 




Fig. 593. New Vicarage Cesspool overflowing into a Tank. 

It seems astonishing that anyone should have ever made 
a pipe connection between cistern and cesspool, but it has 
frequently been done, and this picture, Fig. 592, may serve 

633 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

as a useful warning, for there seems to be no folly which 
human beings will not sometimes commit. 

Dr. Teale reports that typhoid fever broke out at this 
house, and here illustrates what was believed to be the 
cause. 

Fig. 593 shows another accident, explaining how diseases 
spread in country towns and villages and how unnecessary 
it is to assume that sewer air itself contains the disease 




Fig. 594. How people drink sewage. Drain leaking into a well. 

germs when faulty plumbing conducts it into the house. 
This picture shows the case of a newly built vicarage for 
which the rainwater tank served also as an overflow tank 
for the cesspool, instead of the reverse, as was intended. 

Fig. 594 shows a most painful occupation more fre- 
quently seen in nearly all country towns than is generally 
supposed. 

634 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health." 

Fig. 595 shows a remarkably undesirable condition of 
things, four cesspools connected by a leaky drain, all ven- 
tilated through the rooms of the house. Nevertheless the 
occupants managed to live. If disease germs abounded in 




Fig. 595. Plenty of "deadly sewer gas," but occupants still live. 



the air of sewers, as is supposed by some even today, not a 
soul would be living in such a house and town as this, nor, 
indeed, anywhere in England or elsewhere, so universal are 
leaky drains. We know now that, had the cesspools been 
omitted and the sewers been well built and jointed and 
ventilated through the soil pipes of every house, neither odor 
nor danger of any kind to health could have resulted. 

Fig. 596 was contributed to Dr. Teale s list by a phy- 
sician. In this house four cases of typhus and typhoid 
fever had occurred, one resulting in death. The dairy was 
directly over the drain. The joints in the flagging were 
purposely left open, as shown, in order that water and any 
spilt milk might be swept directly into the drain, and the 
doctor believed the air in the house had been poisoned by 
emanations from the defective drain resulting from the de- 
composition of organic matter and milk therein. 

The first case of typhoid was undoubtedly contracted 
somewhere from contaminated food or drink. The other 

635 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



cases may possibly have come from typhoid germs dissi- 
pated through the air from dried sewage from the leaky 
drain below the house. 




h\g. 596. "Dairy Swttp.ngs." 

Fig. 597 is an illustration of a gentleman's house in which 
typhoid fever broke out, and thence spread into the village. 
On examination it was found that the water-closet dis- 
charged into an ordinary stone drain, almost without any 
fall, which ran under a tiled entrance hall. The drain had 
become choked, and the sewage had found its way under 
the flooring of the passageway and rooms. It was assumed 
that disease germs were disseminated by air currents 
through the house from the dried sewage under the floors 
and formed the direct cause of the fever outbreak. But 
today the fatality would be explained as in the last illus- 
tration. 

Another physician sent to the doctor a sketch forming 
the subject of Fig. 598. The living room had been built 
over an old forgotten drain and cesspool. Typhoid fever 
broke out in the house from which one patient recovered 
and another died, and it was supposed at the time to be 

636 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health." 

directly due to disease germs in the sewer air. But it 
would now be said that the constant breathing of the foul 



ft 




Fig. 597. Leakage under the tiling, and forming a large cesspool 
under the house. 




Fig. 598. Addition to a house built over an unsuspected cesspool. 

637 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

air of the drain presumably lowered the vitality so that 
the typhoid germs, entering the system from some other 
source, found a soil favorable for its growth. 

Fig. 599 is an illustration showing direct pollution of 
both air and water supply at the same time. It gave an 
excellent opportunity for the foul air to lower the vitality 
of the occupants, so that the use of polluted water found 
a fertile field for the inoculation of disease. The sewer 
connection was faulty, as were also the connections of the 
plumbing fixtures, the very dangerous form of bell traps 








- IT* 




1 

DDl 



Fig - . 599. Disconnected and Misconnected. 

being used. A maid servant and a boy were seized with 
typhoid fever here, the former dying, probably from drink- 
ing from the pond. 

Another case of death by typhoid fever occurred in the 
house of a surgeon of Leeds, which Dr. Teale illustrates 
(Fig. 6oo) and describes. There had been illness in the 
family for some time before the attack of typhoid, from 
which the surgeon and a maid servant both suffered, the 
latter dying. Emanations from the cesspool A were sup- 
posed to have directly caused the disease. 



638 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health." 

Fig. 601 shows the manner in which a leak in a cesspool 
connection has polluted the cellar of a neighboring building. 
Dr. Teale cites the case of the death of two children from 
diphtheria, and of suffering from chronic sore throat in a 
house thus contaminated. A similar case, shown in Fig. 602, 
was reported to Dr. Teale by an artist, who sent him the 




Fig. 600. A, Rain water tank under cellar floor, with overflow into 

drain. D, Workman "sounding with crowbar" for suspected 

"tank" or "cesspool." 

sketch of the defect in drainage of a house in which a fatal 
case of typhoid fever had occurred. 

In the first case, Fig. 601, complaints of the dampness 
and offensiveness of the cellar had been ineffectually made 
to the agent of the landlord, but they dared not complain 
to the landlord himelf for fear of dismissal. In this manner 

639 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



children are sometimes sacrificed and whole neighborhoods 
endangered by poverty and dependency, and the need of 
rigid sanitary legislation in behalf of people unable to pro- 
tect themselves is here strikingly exemplified. For, although 




Fig. 601. Dampness of house from overflow of cesspool. 




5§fe£afcgS3 



Fig. 602. Danger from next door neighbor's drain. 

in this particular case the drains may have had nothing to 
do with spreading the specific disease, they were neverthe- 
less supposed at the time to have carried it, and the moral 
obligations were therefore the same. 

640 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health." 

Prof. Bostic Hill* in 1895 described a case of probable 
poisoning of about a hundred people who had eaten soup 
exposed to sewer air, one of whom died. Prof. Hill gives 
in full in the account his own reasons for ascribing the 
poisoning to sewer emanations. Figs. 603 and 604 illustrate 
the manner in which the sewer was vented by a pipe run- 




Fig. G03. A, Ventilating pipe of drain turned into bedroom chimney. 
B, Ventilator of drain discharging close to a chimney pot. 



ning up by the side of the building in which the soup was 
kept. It is not an uncommon source of danger, and an out- 
break of typhoid fever at Cambridge, England, some years 
ago, was attributed to this cause. The picture, Fig. 604, 
shows a schoolhouse in which a fatal case of typhoid fever 
occurred. It was attributed to the entrance of sewer air 



'Enteric Fever at Melton Mowbray.' 
641 



Report, 1881. 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

through the chimney flue, as shown. The soup which occa- 
sioned the poisoning described by Prof. Hill was made 
heavy from beef and rabbit. An outbreak of typhoid fever 
could not have been produced in the manner described. If 
the germs could have been conveyed through the air at all, 
it would not have been the air of the soil pipe, but rather 




IS -~*^ 



Fig. 604. A, soil pipe communicating with sewer and opening just 

below bedroom window. B, Ventilator of soil pipe discharging 

close to the attic window. 



the air of the house or street, because the sewer and soil pipe 
act, as we have shown, as filters in arresting and destroying 
them. It would be as reasonable to attribute typhoid fever 
to that part of a water from a well contaminated with 
typhoid germs which had been thoroughly boiled and fil- 

642 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health." 

tered, when that part which had not been disinfected had 
been still more freely imbibed. 

Fig. 605 shows a very similar contamination of such 
meats in an infirmary at Leeds, where sink drains were 
found practically untrapped in every instance and were 
believed to have caused certain outbreaks of diarrhoea which 
occurred at the hospital. 

Finkeluburg* reports a case which shows the rapidity of 
action of sewer gas when generated in sufficient volume. 




Fig. 



605. Bad keeping cellar. "No wonder the meat won't keep, 
the beer turns sour, and the milk disagrees." 



The basement of a house of detention four feet below grade 
was flooded by the backing up of sewage from a sewer. 
Thirteen brushmakers in a room not far distant were taken 
so seriously ill as to have to be removed to the hospital. 
The next illustration, Fig. 606, illustrates this case. The 
cellar has been flooded by the backing up of sewage from a 
clogged-up drain, the stoppage arising from the use of a 
6-inch pipe between two 4i-nch pipes. 



* "Vierteljahrschrift fur gerichtliche Medizin. 
page 301. 

643 



N. F. X. X., 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Most of the brushmakers fell ill on the day after the 
sewage had been pumped out, during which operation a 
pestilential odor pervaded the premises. While the liquid 



n 




; ^ 




Fig. 606. Six-inch pipe between two four-inch pipes. 




Fig. 607. Economy in digging at the expense of 



fall, 



sewage covered the floor, bacteria could not arise from it. 
But after the pumping out, the drying of the floor would 
set free the micro-organisms, so that a strong air suction 
could distribute them through the building above. 

644 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health." 

Backing up also occurred in the case shown in Fig. 607, 
where, you see, too little fall has been allowed for the drain. 




Fig. 608. "To be continued in our next." The authorities saw the 

junction. 




k: - . 



Fig. 609. A, Drain "taking" a rock; sewage "refusing." B, W C, 
Discharging into Basement of a House. 

The next pictures show two other cases of backing up 
recorded by Dr. Teale, Figs. 608 and 609. In the first the 
contractor had discontinued the house drain on its way to 

645 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the sewer on account of a rock which came between the two. 
The result was that all the waste from the water-closet had 
been soaking away into the ground from the time when the 
house was built, seven years before the discovery of this 
defect, and the children had all the time been ailing. Here 
also bacteria could escape from drying earth, as well as the 
dangerous gases of putrefaction, and contaminate the milk 
and meat in the kitchen over the drain. 

In the other picture, Fig. 609, backing up occurred from 
a sharp upward bend in the drain to enable it to climb over 
a spur in a rock and save the contractor from the work of 
blasting. Another defect is shown in this picture at the 
point of connection of the water-closet outlet pipe with the 
house drain. These defects in drain "grading" were de- 
scribed by Mr. Teale as very common, being reported to 
him on many occasions by eye-witnesses. They are strong 
arguments for requiring all drains outside of the house to 
be laid by a properly organized public health department, 
rather than by contract, thereby eliminating the element of 
profit. Where public health is concerned the importance of 
this principle is more easily understood. 

Of course, with the modern system of laying all drain 
pipes of well jointed iron, a pipe might be laid considerably 
more out of alignment than could be the case with tile 
drains. 

Dr. Teale gives still another illustration of food poison- 
ing by sewer gas, which I reproduce in the next picture, 
Fig. 610. This took place at a villa in Cannes, France, 
where a lady was sent for her health. Her maid fell ill 
of typhoid fever, and upon investigation it was found that 
a water-closet on the second floor discharged into a large 
tank or cesspool in the basement, and that the cesspool over- 
flowed upon the floor of the room which was next to the 
larder and kitchen. Thus the products of putrefaction ap- 

646 



Review of Dr. Teales Work, ''Dangers to Health." 

peared to have contaminated the food supply and entered 
the bedrooms, occasioning, it was believed, either directly 
or indirectly, the typhoid case. 

Fig. 611 represents the scene of a case of diphtheria 




Fig. 610. A villa at Cannes. 







3pt 



Fig. 611. Manure heaps against house walls. 
647 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

occasioned, it was believed, by the putrefaction of a heap 
of manure from the barn yard, which was piled up against 
the wall of the dwelling house and penetrated the walls 
and floors. 

A case of an outbreak of enteric fever was reported to 
be caused by the backing up of sewage infected by typhoid 




Figr. 613. An "eligible mansion" in Scotland let for the season. 



germs, as was supposed, the sewage drying in the pipes, and 
then the sewer air entering the houses through untrapped 
drain inlets and plumbing fixtures. The two pictures, Figs. 
612 and 613, show the conditions described. 

648 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health." 

In the second of these pictures all the upper water-closets 
siphoned themselves and the ones below them when they 
were discharged, and a stoppage in the drains gave rise to 
putrefactive decomposition. 

In the other picture is recorded a supposed case of serious 
illness of a healthy child due to sewer gas infection after 
vaccination. Abscesses formed on the ringer and ankle. 
The waste pipes of a basin and a bath near the nursery 




Fig. 614. Leaden soil pipe secured and crumbling- from old age. 

were untrapped. The sewer appears to have been inade- 
quately ventilated. 

Dr. Fergus and others show (Fig. 614) that the corro- 
sion of lead pipes in plumbing, causing not pin holes only, 
but crowbar holes, is a chemical effect of concentrated 
sewer gas, the corrosion going on with greatly increased 
rapidity where pipes are foul and unventilated. What will 

649 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

destroy metal pipes is also injurious to the delicate tissue 
of the lungs, and it is certain that our safety is in propor- 
tion to the amount of dilution of the dangerous gases by 
fresh air. Dr. Fergus considered the duration of venti- 
lated soil pipes when made of soft lead from 18 to 20 or 
more years, but when unventilated of but very few years. In 




Figs. 615 and 616. Guests have too little, butler too much liquid. 



the case shown in the picture Dr. Teale described the lead 
as "so rotten that it crumbled like shortcake." 

In Figs. 615 and 616 we have a curious case of accident, 
due to the house owner being unaware of the presence of 
a cesspool under his cellar. The dining room is shown in 

650 



Review of Dr. Teales Work, "Dangers to Health." 

the upper half of the picture with the landlord anxiously 
ringing for more wine for his thirsty guests. The wring- 
ing of an unexpected brand of whine from the poor but- 
ler resulted from his piercing the wrong cask below and 
bringing up a sample of stronger flavor and apparently 
greater antiquity than the host desired. 




Fig. 604. A. Soil pipe communicating with sewer and opening just 
below bedroom window. B, Ventilator of soil pipe discharging. 



The next picture, Fig. 617, shows lead-caulked joints of a 
soil pipe and rainwater conductor opened by hot water 
from a bath tub in the second story. The occupant of this 
house suffered from erysipelas of the face, attributed to 
the breathing of sewer gas. 

The next pictures show two other cases of defective 
plumbing. In Fig. 618 the waste pipe was originally con- 
nected with a bath tub, which was taken up, but the waste 
pipe was left open. In the room marked B an old sink 

651 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

waste pipe was treated in the same manner. Result, "con- 
stant bad odor, sore throat," says Dr. Teale. 

Fig. 620 gives an illustration of the loss of water seal 
by evaporation in unoccupied houses, or in unused spare 
rooms. 




Fig. 618. "A" Bath waste pipe cut off and left open to the drain, 
"B," Sink waste pipe ditto. 




Fig. 619. Putty Joints in Leaden Soil Pipes. 
Fig. 619 shows one of the disadvantages of the use of lead in plumbing. 

652 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health." 



Fig. 621 shows an arrangement of fixtures taken from a 
house described by Dr. Teale in which each discharge of the 
water-closet siphoned the wash basin trap with the greatest 




Fig. 620. Disused Trap. Evaporation of water. 
Direct communication with the drain. 

ease. The gentleman occupying the bedroom from which 
this illustration was taken was suffering from erysipelas of 
the face, and was about to undergo a surgical operation. 
His surgeon refused to perform any operation until the 
lavatory pipe was cut off from the drain and made to dis- 
charge into the open air. In the climate of England this 
treatment is a safe one so far as freezing is concerned, but 
is not permissible here. Thus the poor patient was obliged 
to shoulder two heavy bills, his physician's as well as his 
plumber's. The use of an anti-siphon trap would have 
avoided the latter. As here arranged, we have excellent 
conditions for producing self-siphonage of the wash basin 

653 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



trap. When a basin having an outlet as large as the one 
shown is discharged by lifting the plug, it will fill its waste 
pipe "full bore" and the contents of the basin, up to its 
overflow opening, will fill the pipe full as far as to its con- 
nection with the soil pipe. This long arm of the siphon 
will at once pull over the water in the short arm as soon 
as the basin is empty, and the suction in the trap will con- 
tinue until the water column has traversed the entire length 




Fig. 621. 



'Lavatory in bedroom trapped, but discharging into soil 
pipe of W. C." 



of the branch waste, thus giving the siphoning action ample 
time to suck out any water that may trickle down into the 
trap from the basin after the discharge. This action will be 
the more positive the longer the branch waste and the 
greater its pitch, reaching its maximum with the perpendicu- 
lar position of the waste pipe. 

The next four figures give some examples of bad joints 
and their effects. In Fig. 622 we find the junction between 
the metal soil pipe and the tile drain has been broken through 
the settlement of the ground around the joint, which has 
broken the cement and allowed the sewage to escape into a 
well under the house. This house was formerly used by 

654 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health.' 




Fig. 622. ' Broken junction of drain and soil 
pipe, and fouling of well under a house. 



f''::. 






?# 




Fig. 625. Tree roots entering pipes laid with inferior mortar. 

655 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Dr. Teale, from whom we take the illustration, and who 
reported sickness in the house due to this leakage. 

The office keeper in this house (Fig. 622) reported to 
Dr. Teale that before this fault was discovered "she hardly 
ever passed a week without a sick headache ; that her chil- 
dren were constantly ailing, and that she could keep neither 
meat nor milk." Since correction Dr. Teale says they have 
been in "good health, and the meat and the milk have kept 
well." 




Fig. 626. "Jerry builder" buying "seconds." 




Fig. 627. Drain made of "seconds" — manslaughter under an "alias 

65G 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health." 

Fig. 625 illustrates the manner in which tile drains may 
be perforated by the roots of trees when they are put to- 
gether with inferior mortar, and the next two pictures (Fig. 
626) are snapshots secured to show the manner in which a 
good builder may save quite a sum of money in using tile 
pipes for hygienic construction where wrought iron pipe 
cannot be bought advantageously. This builder's only rea- 
son for buying "seconds" for this job was that he had al- 
ready bought out all the "thirds" for another piece of sanitary 
engineering, and therefore could not obtain any more of 
them. The picture below (Fig. 627) shows the skillful and 
conscientious manner in which our worthy friend laid these 
pipes under a kitchen and pantry, where he calculated they 
would do the most good. 





Fig. 629. Untrapped 
sink waste. 



Fig 630. Rats and the tale they tell. 



Fig. 629 records a case of sewer gas poisoning supposed 
by Dr. Teale to be due to an untrapped sink waste. Two 
children were taken seriously ill with inflamed sore throat 
attributed by the doctor to this defect. 

Fig. 630 shows defective jointing under the sink which 
had been boxed in so that the defects escaped attention. 
Rats are apt to mean sewer gas holes where soil pipes are 

657 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

made of lead, as was the common custom in England when 
Dr. Teale wrote his book. They gnaw through the lead 
to get at the water or fat in the sink waste. They also make 
runs under the drains and thereby let the pipes down, as 
shown in the picture. 




Fig. 



11. Ci-tern feeding L boiler 
with overflow into drain. 




Fig. 



632. "On the wrons: scent. 
No plans of the drains. 




Fig. 633. Dish stone in scullery 

untrapped, and opening direct" 

into a rain water tank, with 

overflow into drain. 




Fig. 634. Dangers coming 

from concealing the 

plumbing pipes. 



Fig. 632 shows the effect of bad jointing in a cellar of a 
house having no drain plans. The owner was obliged to 
have the whole cellar flooring raised before the drain was 
found. Dr. Teale entitles this picture ''On the wrong scent," 
and shows the drain hunters excavating in the corner of the 
cellar the furthest off from where the drain actually was. 

658 



Review of Dr. Teale's Work, "Dangers to Health." 

Figs. 631 and 633 give very common defects, the first 
showing a cistern feeding a kitchen boiler and having its 
overflow connected directly with the drain, and the second 
showing a rainwater tank under a house having an un- 
trapped dish stone or grating and an overflow into the drain. 
Sewer gas is meandering at pleasure all about the kitchen 
and scullery. 




Fig. 636. Vicarage rendered unhealthy by infiltration from church- 
yard. 




Fig. 638. Cisterns ventilating cesspool. 



The remaining figures, 634 to 638, are sufficiently ex- 
plained by their titles and need no further comment in view 
of what has already been said. 



659 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




Fig. t>37. Cellar kept dump twelve years by slopwater 



660 






CHAPTER XLI. 

Sand Filtration. 

Sand filtration, both slow and rapid, is becom- 
ing yearly more popular for water purification and 
methods yof washing the sand to maintain the fil- 
ter up to the highest efficiency are being con- 
stantly improved. 

As generally practiced, however, this sand 
washing process is still the most expensive part 
of filtration. 

Several times a year the upper layer of sand has to be 
laboriously scraped off by hand, carted away, and washed 
in machines of greater or less complexity and costliness. 
Moreover, the shovels or hand tools used for this scraping 
cannot be so manipulated as to remove the upper sand layer 
with uniformity and much more sand has to be washed 
than is necessary. A considerable amount of sand is 
washed avvay and lost, and the washing itself, left to ordi- 
nary workmen, must often be imperfectly done. 

Devices for stirring up the sand in place under water, 
and removing the dirty water by suction as it is formed 
have been tried with more or less success. But these ma- 
chines have seemed to the writer, as far as he is informed 
about them, to be unnecessarily complicated and expensive 
in operation. He has designed the device shown in Figs. 
639 to 642 for a quick automatic scraping and wash- 
ing of a layer of sand of uniform and minimum thickness. 
It has been designed especially for a plant for filtering 
the water of a brook for a small community. The cleaning 
is to be done while the filter is in use so that no shut down 
and consequent duplication of the plant is required. 

6G1 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

The filter is planned to be built about three hundred feet 
from the brook and its water level is substantially constant 
within a few inches, because it enters a lake just below the 
filter. This maintains the ground water at a permanent 
level and simplifies the problem of filtration by providing a 
uniform head throughout the year. This level is indicated 
by dotted line on the drawing. The water is partially fil- 
tered in passing from the brook through gravel from eight 
to ten feet deep, and enters first a sediment reservoir and 
thence through a regulating valve into the filter. 



■n^.SucT i'oK 




c^^i^^dm 



Fig. 639. Longitudinal Spction of Writer's Slow Sand Filter. 

The filtration may be accomplished in this plant either on 
the usual plan of constant contact, or by intermittent contact 
or on the sprinkling plan recently advocated by Miquel as 
far more effective than either. The drawings show modi- 
fications and details of my own. 

The sprinkling filter allows of constant and much more 
abundant aeration throughout the entire bed than is pos- 
sible with other systems, while the water slowly descends. 
The water is distributed over the sand at the speed of 



662 



Sand Filtration. 

about one drop a second for every square inch of filter 
area by means of small enamel covered troughs, half 
round in section, and supplied by a main pipe running the 
whole length of the filter bed. 

The sand is washed in place without interrupting the 
operation of the filter by running a two-edged galvanized 
iron scraping knife rapidly from one end of the bed to 




Cotioc'h'ruj 'Brains 
Fig. 640. Transverse Section of Filter Bed. 




SchrAutiAcfU, 



Fig. 641. Transverse Section of Trough and Knives. 

the other under the water by means of a machine motor, 
the ends of the knife being furnished with small wheels 
or rollers which run on tracks on each side of the bed. 
To permit of this the beds are made long and narrow, the 
width being limited by the practical length of the knife, 

663 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

which in this case has sufficient strength with a length of 
twelve feet. The length of the bed may be as great as de- 
sired. In this case it measures one hundred and seventy 
feet. Any number of knives and beds may, of course, be 
built side by side, and operated by the same motor and a sin- 
gle set of shafting. The knives have prongs cast upon their 
upper surfaces as shown, to aid in breaking up the 
"schmutzdecke/' as the dirty surface of the sand to be 
scraped off is sometimes called. This surface or skin to be 
removed is usually very thin, and sometimes matted to- 
gether almost like a carpet when vegetable growths or algae 
develop in it, and in such cases considerable agitation of 



\i.^v-'vfr 




Fig. 642. Detail of Knife and Troughs. 



the skin or schmutzdecke is necessary to properly break it 
up. The prongs, together with a specially rapid travel of 
the knives accomplish this, and the knives may be run back 
and forth several times if necessary to secure sufficient agi- 
tation and cleansing. 

The dirty water is then pumped out by a centrifugal 
pump of size sufficient to remove all the water before the 
sediment to be removed has had time to deposit itself. A 
six-inch suction pump is used in this instance. The water 
is removed through the same tile pipe, with its evenly 
distributed openings, which is used to feed the filter, so that 
no violent suction is brought to bear on any one part of the 
bed. This feed pipe is supported by brackets built into the 

664 



Sand Filtration. 

concrete walls of the filter, and is laid eight or ten inches 
above the surface of the sand so as to give room for the 
small transverse secondary feed pipes or troughs below 
it which are supplied with water through small round open- 
ings left in the cement joints of the main feed pipe. 

The troughs are in their turn placed high enough above 
the bed to permit of the passage under them of the scraping 
and stirring knife. The feed water is distributed by the 
troughs over the bed by means of small drip points cast on 
their under surfaces as shown in the details, which alternate 
with the knife prongs and aid them in breaking up the 
schmutzdecke. 

The water overflows the edges of the troughs which are 
laid as nearly horizontal as possible. The covers prevent 
the dirty water from clogging the troughs during washing, 
and also aid in regulating the water distribution. The 
height of the main pipes above the sand surface regulates 
the proportion of the dirty water which can be removed by 
the pump. Several inches are left for the purpose of "re- 
seeding" the filter because, as has already been stated, clean 
sand alone is incapable of properly filtering water, a certain 
amount of bacterial or equivalent deposit being necessary to 
start the purification and therefore to render possible the 
continuous operation contemplated by this plant. The energy 
required to propel the scrapers in this filter is very small, 
and the economy of operation is therefore correspondingly 
great. The knives being adjustable, may not only be regu- 
lated to remove the exact amount of surface sand desired 
to produce the best results, but at the same time they level 
off the bed in the most perfect manner. No sand is lost, 
however fine it be, because just sufficient time may be left 
between stirring up the deposit and pumping out to permit 
of the resettlement of the sand but not of the lighter silt 
and other undesirable matter. 

665 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Automatic washers have been invented, as stated, for 
washing the sand in place. But those with which the writer 
is familiar operate to agitate and wash the deposit in such a 
manner as to involve the loss of some of the valuable sand 
of the filter, and they do not provide any means of auto- 
matically reseeding the filter, which must therefore be sub- 
sequently done by hand or by running to waste the filtrate 
for a number of days to permit of a reformation of the re- 
quired amount of bacterial gelatinous deposit to restore 
effectual working by natural process. 

Portable Slow Sand Filters. 
Figs. 643 to 646 represent a portable "sprinkling" fil- 
ter for house use designed by the writer. 

The sand is held in one or more sections of earthen- 
ware pipe and the raw water enters a sprinkler through 
four small pipes, at the top, and thence discharges by 
means of a sprinkling trough over the surface of the sand 
in numerous very small streams, the amount in aggre- 
gate being equivalent to one drop per second for every 
square inch of surface of the filter. Air enters the space 
between the bottom of the sand vessel and the pure 
water receptacle forming the base of the apparatus, and 
rises through the sand as the water descends. A tight 
cover connected with a heated ventilating flue produces 
a forced draught, and an effective aeration. 

The result of this slow percolation of the water 
through the sand with the accompanying constant and 
abundant aeration is to cultivate aerobic bacteria in suf- 
ficient force and activity to completely dispose of all or- 
ganic matter, including all harmful or pathogenic germs, 
and their spores, in the raw water, and yield an effluent 
of the utmost possible purity. The bacteria themselves 

666 



Sand Filtration. 

develop in numbers just sufficient to consume the food 
supplied by the water, and live as long as this food or 
organic matter continues. An increase or diminution of 
organic impurity in the raw water, or the quantity of 
water filtered, results in a corresponding change in the 




Ipifllipll 



ftMMm l 

^hIIhl 



>aly Pt^t 




Figi 64:;. Section of Writer's 
Poi tabic Filter. 



number of these friendly bacteria, and the surface of the 
sand, therefore, is never clogged so long as the impurities 
deposited on it are organic. Inorganic matter is easily 
lemoved by scraping at intervals of considerable length, 
depending upon the nature of the water to be filtered. 



667 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

The efficiency of a filter working upon this principle 
is very largely dependent upon the equal distribution of 
the raw water over the sand. This distribution is ef- 
fected in the filter under consideration by means of per- 
forated troughs connected together and designed as 




Fig. 644. Distributing Trough. 



Fig. 64a. Another Form of 
the Distribution. 



shown in the drawings, and fed from the water supply 
pipe through one or more small supply pipes connected 
directly or indirectly with a regulating stop-cock. The 
main supply pipe is controlled in an auxiliary float cis- 
tern connected with a pure water collecting cistern. 
These small feed pipes are made large enough to ensure 
against any possible stoppage by sediment, and to fur- 
nish the maximum amount of water required at any time 
of the largest demand. 

In hotels, the collecting cistern if installed for drink- 
ing water supply, should be fitted up with galvanized 
iron coils from the refrigerating plant, in which case it 
would usually be better to have a separate cistern for the 
regulating float. 

668 



Sand Filtration. 

Such a plant as this ensures the utmost possible pur- 
ity of drinking water, uncontaminated by ice, which 
should never be used for refrigerating unless it is made 
of filtered water, or contained in a separate vessel, 
whereby the drinking water is cooled without the ice 
coming in direct contact with it. The illustration shows 
such a plant built by the writer this summer in the 
Charlesgate Hotel, Boston. 



tJupfiiu, 




Fig. 646. 
Another Form of Distributor. 




*Sct<rt<rl \ 



Fig. C>47. 
Detail of Distributor. 



The distribution of the water over the sand is effected 
as follows : A ring of concrete, reinforced by iron wires, 
is moulded on the inside of the hub shoulder of the pipe 
forming a water channel all around nearly as deep as 
the height of the hub. The water suppy-pipe, with its 
float-valve discharges into this channel, and keeps its 
water level up to that of the four little outlet pipes 
moulded into the concrete ring, a little distance above its 
bottom. This forms a water seal for the enamelled iron 
or copper ventilating cap of the filter, as shown, and 
prevents the draught of the ventilating flue from being 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

weakened by the entrance of any air which has not 
passed through the sand from bottom to top. 

Four small pipes, whose united capacity is equal to 
that of the main supply pipe, lead the water from the 
water channel, through the concrete ring, into the "dis- 
tributor" proper. This distributor consists of a number 
of perforated interconnected distributing troughs, into 
which the four small pipes discharge. The troughs are 
V-shaped in section, set with the apex down, and the 
perforations are evenly distributed along their bottoms. 
Small brass plungers having ends fit into these holes, 
and not only regulate and equalize the w r ater distribution 
through them, but also conduct the water from each hole 
directly downwards to the sand. The plungers are fas- 
tened to a frame, and arranged upon it in such a manner 
and position that all may be raised or lowered together 
and equally by means of thumb-screws set at opposite 
corners of the frame. The holes in the troughs are ob- 
long in shape, measuring about i-io by 1-4 of an inch. 
The plungers are of the same dimensions at the top, but 
1 educed at the lower end to 1-10 of an inch. Their lower 
ends extend through, and a little below, the bottom of the 
holes leaving, always, at least one-half of the holes open 
when the amount of water required is large. When less 
water is required through each hole, the frame is lowered 
by the thumb-screws and the bevel on the plungers grad- 
ually reduces the capacity of the holes until the proper 
size is attained. 

Should the holes become more or less clogged by sedi- 
ment they may be easily and quickly cleared by simply 
screwing down the frame until the plungers completely 
fill the holes and force out the obstructions. They are 
then raised again to their proper operating position. 

670 



Sand Filtration. 

The \ '-shape of the troughs provides perfect distri- 
bution without obstructing the upward movement of the 
ventilating air through the sand surface. The distributor 
is stamped out of sheet copper, or of sheet iron after- 
wards porcelain enamelled. 

During the hours of most rapid use the float in the 
collecting cistern, or its auxiliary float tank will be low- 
ered so as to open the raw water supply valve full bore, 
and water will then enter the distributor troughs at its 
maximum rapidity, and rise in the troughs until a water 
head is developed in them sufficiently high to force this 
greater quantity of water through the perforations into 
the filters. 

The entire operation thus becomes absolutely auto- 
matic, and a sufficient number of bacteria live in the filter 
between maximum supplies to take care of all- organic 
impurity when it comes. The water dropping from each 
plunger point distributes itself in the sand in an inverted 
cone-shaped area — so that at a distance below the sand, 
inversely proportional to the number of points, the cones 
unite. It is therefore important that the points should be 
as near together as possible to produce the maximum of 
efficiency. 

Inorganic impurities in the raw water, deposited upon 
the sand from the points, for a long time, really aid the 
working of the filter by forming underneath each point a 
small saucer-shaped auxiliary distributor which may 
gradually be converted into an inverted cone or stalag- 
mite. Therefore the sand surface may, with certain 
kinds of raw water, as a fact, never have to be scraped 
or cleaned at all, or, if scraped at very long intervals, the 
labor involved is so very slight as to be practically negli- 
gible. 

071 




CHAPTER XLII. 

PLUMBING LAWS. 
A Plumbing Code Recommended by the Author. 

N conformity with requests at different 
times of commissions appointed by three 
cities for the revision of their plumbing 
regulations, and acting as expert for these 
commissions, I have drawn up several codes 
and give herewith one embodying the best 
points. 

I have before me copies of the codes of 
thirty-seven cities and towns, seventeen of 
which embody the simpler and more modern 
and scientific principles, omitting the requirement for the 
back venting of traps. The rest adhere to the antiquated 
methods advocated a quarter of a century ago when the 
experiments of Hellyer, and of Bowditch and Philbrick were 
published, which seem to have been largely responsible for 
the present complication. Their recommendations, which 
might have had some excuse at that time, are no longer 
applicable to the present conditions. 

Greatly improved methods, materials and appliances in 
plumbing have entirely altered the data. Main stacks of 
soil and waste pipes are now universally ventilated from top 
to bottom, as was not the case at that time. Fixtures are 
constructed with better flushing devices. Large drum and 
other traps have been found to be secure against syphonage 
and back pressure and evaporation without back venting. 
Means of keeping the air of sewers and drains well aerated 
and perfectly safe have been devised, and we know more 



672 



Plumbing Laws. 

about the constitution of sewer air and what can be done 
to render it innocuous than we did in those days. 

I have given in the previous pages my reasons for the 
various improvements I have advocated in my proposed 
code, and will only call especial attention here to section 7, 
calling for an equally rigid standard test to be applied to 
back vented syphon traps, as well as to unvented anti-syphon 
traps, before either shall be accepted as an adequate protec- 
tion against syphonage, back pressure, evaporation or clog- 
ging. 

Such an impartial test has never to my knowledge here- 
tofore been required by any plumbing regulations. 

Yet in the light of our present knowledge of the undis- 
puted unreliability of back venting in many cases, and of the 
equally undisputed much greater if not entire reliability of 
the anti-syphon trap system in all cases, what can be more 
absurd and unscientific than the omission of the requirement 
of a standard test for the former when it is rigidly exacted 
for the latter? 

I would also here call attention to the fact that in most 
plumbing codes most of the knotty questions, such as the 
efficiency of any particular form of trap or system of trap- 
ping, or the advisability of omitting the main house trap, and 
others of like import, are slurred over by providing that they 
shall be left to the judgment of the inspector, building com- 
missioner or board of health officer in charge. Yet what 
is more evident than that such an individual is not only 
incapable of settling questions which the highest authorities 
have as yet not all agreed upon or which could not from the 
nature of things be decided without a standard test? An 
impartial and exhaustive expert investigation is requisite 
properly to determine many of these questions. Public 
officials have sometimes held office for political reasons 

673 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

and for short periods, and they stand always under more 
or less pressure of influence or favoritism. 

Standard tests should always be called for in all cases 
where tests alone can demonstrate the fitness of any device 
or principle, and when exacted they should be of such a kind 
as to determine the data required both scientifically and posi- 
tively. Sanitary plumbing must cease to be considered a 
subject for off-hand judgment or guesswork. It is an exact 
science and must be treated scientifically or the public will 
continue to suffer inconvenience and ill health and pay twice 
as much for the work as is necessary or desirable. 

Boards of health and plumbing inspection should be re- 
quired to equip themselves with apparatus suitable to make 
the standard tests. The outlay would save nearly half the 
cost of plumbing to the public and would itself cost less than 
the back venting of a single small building. 

I also call attention here to my section on Cast Iron Pipe 
Jointing. In some plumbing codes today the jointing of cast 
iron pipes is limited to the ordinary lead and oakum calked 
bell and spigot joint, which many of the best authorities 
today believe to be one of the worst forms of construction 
possible. 

Some codes go further and specifically debar all "cement" 
joints. Now such a rule debars all steam fitters' and gas 
pipers' red or white lead and oil cements and the use of 
all of the other useful compounds now classed under the 
name of "cements," such as rubber cement, iron and sal 
ammoniac cement, and every kind of oil cement whether 
elastic or rigid. The word "cement" is applied to all binding 
materials used for cementing or binding bodies together. 
The dictionaries and standard works on cements, such as 
Standages', Phin's and Dawidowski's, include all binding 
materials as cements, and classify them according to their 
qualities, principal constituents or to the materials thev 

G74 



Plumbing Laws. 

unite, such as oil cements, rubber cements, red or white lead 
cements, elastic cements, heat resisting cements, earthenware 
and iron jointing cements, sal ammoniac cements, steam 
and gas fitters' cements, lime and stone cements, etc. These 
are all better than the calked lead joint, and for the public 
to allow them all to be debarred on account of the prejudice 
or ignorance of the law maker is absurd and childish, depriv- 
ing themselves of all that is -best and discouraging invention, 
on the vain and preposterous assumption that their wisdom 
or that of their law maker embraces everything possible 
whether of the past, present or future. 

William Paul Gerhard, the eminent sanitary engineer, 
who has done so much by his careful study and writing on 
sanitary engineering in removing popular prejudices in this 
domain, writes in a lecture delivered before the Vermont 
Association of Health Officers* : "Back-air pipes are liable 
to stop up at the crown or upper bend of the trap from con- 
gealed grease or other semi-solid matter. They then become 
inoperative, and hence give a false sense of security. In 
Cologne, Germany, all back-air pipes which an investigating 
committee had cut open, were found choked with either 
grease or coffee grounds or cobwebs. In St. Paul, Minn., an 
examination by a plumbing inspector showed that from a 
total of twenty-three houses twelve houses had the vent 
pipes from kitchen sink traps completely stopped up by con- 
gealed grease and particles of vegetable matter, or lint from 
kitchen towels. Of the eleven others, only one house had 
a sink vent-pipe which was perfectly clear and unobstructed, 
and this was found to be due to the fact that hot water and 
lye was used once a month in the pipes. In seven out of 
eleven houses a soft, slimy substance was found adhering 
to the interior of the vent pipes for two or three inches above 



♦"Plumbing: The Modern, the Old and the Advanced Systems." 
Lecture by Wm. Paul Gerhard, C.E.. of New York, reprinted from Bulle- 
tin of Vermont State Board of Health. 



i .) 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

the crown of the trap, and in the other three the vents were 
partially stopped up. i he vent from the S trap under the 
kitchen sink in my own house has been found partially 
stopped up five times in ten years, and would doubtless have 
become entirely stopped up before the end of this period if I 
did not have same cleaned once a year. 

"In northern latitudes where soil and vent pipes above the 
roof may become closed by frost, traps will readily be 
syphoned under such conditions. 

"Trap vent pipes increase the liability of the seal of S 
traps being destroyed by evaporation. The trap vent pipe, if 
placed much below the trap seal, does nut protect the pipe 
against self syphonage or loss of seal by momentum. This 
is a point to which very little attention has been paid. 

"The late Colonel Waring stated that, 'Continued experi- 
ence and observation tend more and more to confirm the 
opinion that the back-venting of traps, aside from its great 
cost, does more harm than good ; that is to say, that a trap 
is more likely to lose its seal if it is back-vented than if it is 
not.' 

"An English expert on drainage called 'a diagram of 
house plumbing protected by ventilation pipes as prescribed 
by most American authorities a bewildering nightmare of 
complicated ingenuity,' to which statement many of you will 
doubtless heartily assent. 

"The fact is, S traps with vents are perfectly safe only if 
the vent pipes are of sufficient area, if they are not of too 
great length, if there are no sudden bends and not too many 
of them, if they are free and unobstructed, and if their 
fixture is used every day. The conclusion is therefore inevi- 
table that, as ordinarily arranged, vent pipes are useless 
complications. 

"I wish that time would permit me to make a more elabo- 
rate comparison between the two methods in order to impress 

676 



Plumbing Laws. 

upon you the important fact that the improved and simpli- 
fied system is far superior to the one commonly required by 
rules and regulations. 

"To the health officers of these towns or cities which are 
about to make plumbing regulations I suggest that the better 
way is to make it at least optional with the architect or 
owner of a building whether he will choose the common or 
regular system with double piping and incur an unnecessary 
expense, or use the advanced, improved, simplified and safer 
method. 

"I am more than ever convinced that the 'one pipe sys- 
tem,' as I have sometimes called it, is the coming system, 
and that within the next few years even the rules and regu- 
lations of our larger cities will be amended accordingly." 

Speaking of the cost of venting Mr. Gerhard says : "Trap 
vent pipes increase the cost of plumbing and the money paid 
for them to plumbers is spent quite uselessly. A calculation 
undertaken by a careful investigator showed that the amount 
of piping is increased by thirty-three per cent, and the num- 
ber of pipe joints by sixty-six per cent." 

"Modern Sanitation"* has the following in the number 
for September, 1907: 

"The pendulum of opinion, like the pendulum of time, 
ever swings from one extreme to the other ; and what is 
considered good practice in one decade in the light of subse- 
quent research proves to be no better than other methods 
that are condemned. 

"It is only within the past four years, however, that the 
efforts of the advance guard of sanitation have borne fruit 
and that recognition of non-syphon traps has been accorded 
in the plumbing codes of cities. 

"Cleveland is the latest city to be added to the list." 

Section 21 of the Cleveland code reads as follows: "Anti- 



*Published by the Standard Mfg. Co., Pittsburgh. 
677 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

syphon traps that stand the test prescribed may be used 
without back venting on fixtures requiring two-inch and 
smaller traps, provided the developed length horizontal or 
vertical from a soil or waste pipe stack or house drain does 
not exceed ten feet." 

"A condition," continues "Modern Sanitation," "of the 
foregoing provision that recommends itself to all who are 
interested in sanitation is the requirement that non-syphon 
or refill traps successfully withstand a prescribed test before 
being put on the approved list. By having a standard test 
for traps, and a code that permits the use of any trap passing 
that test, the door is shut against favoritism or a discrim- 
ination against any individual or firm who wish to have their 
goods used. A standard test for non-syphon traps that is 
fair to manufacturer and at the same time safeguards the 
public should be adopted by every city in the Union having 
plumbing laws. This test should be uniform throughout the 
state and should have the approval of the American Society 
of Plumbing Inspectors and Sanitary Engineers, or some 
equally representative body of men, who in all fairness 
would prescribe the tests to be withstood. Such a condition 
in the plumbing trade is much to be desired; then if a firm 
or individual designs a new type of non-syphon or refill 
trap, they can submit it for a test without fear of favor and 
have it adopted or rejected on its merits or demerits. 

"Objection to the use of non-syphon and refill traps in 
many quarters arises from the mistaken opinion that the use 
of such traps, by cutting down the amount of plumbing work 
in a building, interferes with the profits of the plumbing 
contractors. Such an opinion is wholly wrong. In fact the 
converse is true. More profit is to be realized from the sale 
of goods than from the labor of installing them, and a house 
owner who can install two bath rooms or one bath room and 
some bed room lavatories with non-syphon traps for what 

678 



Plumbing Laws. 

he could pay for one bath room with a whole lot of unneces- 
sary vent piping concealed in the walls and partitions, will 
install the former every time. The plumbing contractor 
makes his percentage of profit on an installment of equal 
amount without an equal amount of work, consequently his 
profit is greater, for if he turns over a 10 per cent profit in 
two weeks, his net profit, time considered, is greater than 
if the same work took four weeks. Furthermore, with a 
given capital, a greater volume of work can be handled each 
year, thus increasing the gross profit in a business. 

"As a corollary to the foregoing, it can safely be said 
that the plumber who gives his patron two bath rooms 
with non-syphon traps for a certain price, will meet with far 
greater success in his business than his rival who fits up 
but one bath room with vent pipes for the same price. It is 
pleased customers that advertise your business, and the best 
way to please a customer is to make every dollar paid show 
in fixtures." 

"The Inland Architect and News Record" for Novem- 
ber, 1905, urged the following: — 

"Boards of health or plumbing inspectors should equip 
themselves with apparatus suitable to test the appli- 
ances they allow to be used, that the public may be re- 
lieved at once of the burden of back venting if it be 
found that it is continued solely for the benefit of dealers 
in piping. We would suggest that the architects, both 
personally and through the American Institute and its 
various chapters in the large cities, where they are 
obliged to charge their clients with this expense, lend 
their influence to urge the authorities to appoint such 
expert commissions as may seem to them to be best, for 
the purpose of making the investigations we have advo- 
cated." 



679 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




2* 



Vf*{$ 



Fig. 549 shows the standard test 
ing apparatus suggested by 
"modern sanitation" for general 
use. 

It consists of a fifty-gallon tank 
ten feet above the trap connection, 
with a 2-inch down pipe and a quick 
opening valve on the pipe above a 
V branch for the trap. 

The method of testing to con- 
sist of discharging the entire con- 
tents of the tank by opening and 
closing the valve every five seconds. 
No movable parts to be allowed in 
the trap when the test is being made. 
A short time ago a prominent 
lawyer, for whom I was building a 
house and an office building, said 
he had in mind to test the right of 
the building authorities to oblige 
him under the law to install back 
air pipes with his anti-syphon traps, 
on the ground that the form of such 
traps, together with their inlet and 
outlet pipes, provided in themselves 
the best possible and only permanently reliable back air 
pipes, because their efficiency could not be destroyed by 
clogging or evaporation. Closure by clogging would stop 
the outflow of water and render cleansing imperative. Their 
principle of construction was such as to allow the air of the 
room to pass through their own seals without injury to them 
and then to pass on and up to the roof through their waste 
and soil pipes, thus attaining what the law must accept as 
the only permanently effective back air pipes possible. He 
claimed that the inspector could not oblige him to adopt that 

680 



i 



* 



Fig. 549. 
Trap Testing- Apparatus. 



Plumbing Laws. 

one of two methods of back airing which had proved without 
question to be both unreliable and short lived, when another 
method was contained in his anti-syphon traps and their 
waste pipes which was now well known to be both reliable 
and permanent. 

In conclusion I submit herewith a plumbing code which 
I believe will prove beneficial not only to the public, whose 
welfare should, of course, be peramount since the law is 
made for them ; but also to the architects, engineers and 
plumbers, and all whose business it is to serve the public 
in this domain. 



PLUMBING REGULATIONS. 

Section 1. Plans and Specifications. The plumbing and 
drainage of all buildings, public and private, additions and al- 
terations thereto, shall be executed under the direction of the 
Health Officer, in accordance with plans and specifications 
previously approved in writing by the local or State Board 
of Health; and suitable drawings and descriptions of said 
plumbing and drainage shall, in each case, be submitted and 
placed on file with the Secretary of the local or State Board 
of Health aforesaid. No part of the work shall be covered 
or concealed in any way until after it shall have been examined 
by and tested in the presence of the Health Officer. 

After a plan has been approved, no alteration of the same 
shall be allowed except on the written application of the owner. 

All material must be of good quality and free from de- 
fects; the work must be executed in a thorough and work- 
manlike manner. 

Section 2. Registration. No plumber shall engage in or 
work at the business of plumbing unles he shall have first 
registered his name and place of business in the office of the 
Board of Health, and no person shall by display of sign or 
plumbing material advertise as a plumber unless he shall have 

681 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

been registered or licensed therefor. Notice of any change 
in the place of business of a registered or licensed master 
plumber shall be immediately given to the Board of Health. 

Section 3. Notices. Every plumber, before doing any work 
in a building, shall, except in the case of repair of leaks, file 
at the office of said Board of Health, upon blanks for that 
purpose, an application for a permit. 

Section 4. Connection with Sewer or Drain. The plumbing 
of every building shall be separately and independently con- 
nected outside the building with the public sewer, if such 
sewer is provided, or with a proper and sufficient private drain 
or sewer laid outside of the building, and if a sewer is not 
accessible, with a proper irrigation or purification system or 
cesspool. Several buildings may have a common sewer con- 
nection. 

Section 5. Traps. The waste pipe of every plumbing fixture 
shall be connected with a water seal trap having an air- 
tight and water-tight clean-out of sufficient size to give con- 
venient access for cleaning all parts of the trap. 

Section 6. Trap Protection. Traps shall be protected from 
loss of seal through syphonage, evaporation and clogging. 
Either non-syphoning traps, mechanical air vents or back air 
pipes may be used for such protection provided they conform 
to the requirements of a standard test for syphonage, evapora- 
tion and clogging applied to them in accordance with Sections 
7, 8, 9 and 10. 

(Alternative. A much better and simpler provision would be 
as follows : 

Section 5. Traps. The waste pipe of every plumbing fixture 
shall be connected with a non-syphoning water seal trap having an 
airtight and watertight clean-out of sufficient size to give conve- 
nient access for cleaning all parts of the trap. Back air pipes for 
special trap venting shall not be used. 

In this case Sections 6 and 11 will be omitted. But for places 
where the public are not yet convinced of the importance of this 
change, but prefer to leave back venting still optional, the first 
form and Sections 6 and 11 are given as a temporary compromise.) 

Section 7. Testing Apparatus. The test for efficiency in re- 
sisting syphoning action shall be applied by a standard testing 
apparatus constructed as follows: The apparatus shall be 
either hydraulic or pneumatic. When the hydraulic appara- 

682 



Plumbing Laws. 

tus is used it shall be constructed as shown in Figure 1. When 
the pneumatic is preferred it shall be constructed as shown in 
Figure 2. Both are recommended as useful in checking one 
another. Or any modifications of these devices conforming to 
their principles or capable of measuring the siphoning and other 
actions occurring in plumbing work for which they are constructed, 
may be used. 

Section 8. Hydraulic Apparatus. In the hydraulic apparatus 

a water supply connection at S is required with ball cock and 
float and a large water tank of X* gallons capacity; a two- 
inch vertical main pipe P from the tank having a trapped 
waste receptacle W at its lower end; a two-inch branch pipe 
B for connecting up the trap to be tested; a vacuum gauge 
G on the branch; a quick opening valve V on the main pipe 
above the branch, a second valve V on the branch B, and 
another valve V" at the lower end of the pipe below the 
branch. Also a back air connection A for coupling on the 
back-air pipes Figure 3. 

The test on this apparatus shall consist in connecting the 
outlet arm of the trap, filled with water, to the branch pipe 
B by means of a coupling nut or other air-tight connecting 
device and discharging the contents of the tank through the 
main pipe by successively opening and closing the upper valve 
V ten times, leaving the valve open for five seconds each 
time, the lower valve V" remaining open during the test. The 
size of the tank is governed by the size of the water sup- 
ply pipe and water pressure available. It should be sufficiently 
large to supply water for the ten successive discharges after 
one filling, the water entering the tank from the supply pipe 
continuously during the test. 

The energy of the syphoning action produced by each of 
these ten discharges is ascertained from the pressure gauge 
G before the trap tests are made by closing the valve V and 
reading the gauge during the discharges. The purpose of the 
valve V" is to close the pipe when making the evaporation 
tests. 

Section 9. Non-Syphoning Traps. Non-syphoning traps 
shall be considered effective and acceptable when they are found 



*Size prescribed below. 

683 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



~p- 




v-^t 



?^3 y> 



♦ V 




Sl_ 



capable of maintaining a seal of not less than one Xth of 
an inch after the ten successive applications without refilling 
of the syphoning strains above described. The severity of 
the strains will be partly dependent upon the length of the 
main two-inch pipe from tank to waste receptacle. But it 
should be equal to the strains required to lower the seal of 
a four-inch round or pot trap having one and one-half inch 
inlet and outlet arms from four inches in depth to one Xths 
of an inch in the ten discharges. 

Section 10. The Pneumatic Apparatus shall be constructed 
as shown in Figure 2, and shall consist of a two-inch vertical 

684 



Plumbing Laws. 

pipe P ten feet long hermetically closed at the top and hav- 
ing a .small water outlet cock C at the bottom. An air ex- 
haust pump E and a vacuum gauge G shall be connected with 
this pipe at a convenient height from the ground as shown. 
A two-inch trap testing branch B provided with a quick open- 
ing valve V shall be connected with the main pipe just bel'ow 
the pump connection. Also a back air connection A for coup- 
ling on the back air pipes Figure 3. 

The trap to be tested is secured to the branch pipe in the 
same manner as in the hydraulic apparatus. The strain to 
be applied is obtained by closing the valve V and pumping the 
air out of the pipe until the vacuum gauge indicates five inches 
of vacuum. This strain is now applied to the trap by open- 
ing the valve V which forces the air through the trap seat 
and breaks the vacuum in the main pipe. A repetition of 
this action ten times without refilling the trap constitutes the 
standard test required. Any trap maintaining a water seal 
one Xth of an inch deep after this test shall be accepted as 
an effective non-syphoning trap.* 

Section 11. Back Air Pipes will be al- 
lowed as protection for traps against 
syphonage when they stand the same test 
connected with the trap which is applied 
as standard to non-syphoning traps. For 
test purposes vent pipes made of thin tubing 
and connected up as shown in Figure 3 shall 
be employed. A sufficient number of pipe 
lengths and bends shall be used in the test 
to produce an amount of air friction cor- 
responding with that of the vent pipe to 
be used in the actual building, and for pur- 
poses of Easy Calculation the surface fric- 
tion of a one and one-half inch pipe shall 

Fig. 3. 

To couple on at A 

Figs. 1 & 2 




*The pneumatic apparatus permits of further comparative tests in the 
relative efficiency of different kinds of traps, or systems of trapping, 
by permitting the application of higher degrees of vacuum, and it 
also provides an accurate means of testmg the comparative efficiency 
of non-syphcning traps with syphon traps protected by mechanical 
vents or by back air pipes either new or partially clogged with sedi- 
ment. 

685 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

be taken as x times* that of a two-inch pipe, and y times that 
of a three-inch pipe, and z times that of a four-inch pipe, and 
w times that of a five-inch pipe, and in the same proportion for 
larger pipes. Hence where a certain length of one and one-half 
inch pipe is found to reach the limit which will protect the 
trap in the standard test, x, y, z, or w times, this length will 
form the limit when the vent pipes are increased in area ac- 
cordingly. The friction of a quarter bend shall be taken as 
equivalent to x* feet of pipe of the same bore as that of the 
bend. 

In tall buildings the size of the back vent pipe shall be in- 
creased for each stony by an amount determined by the fric- 
tion tests for each such additional length. 

The back air pipe used in the test shall be applied at the 
opening A on the branch pipe B. Different lengths are ob- 
tained by opening or shutting the gates G 1 , G 2 , G 3 , G 4 , etc. 

Back air pipes shall be nowhere less than one and one-half 
inches in diameter and nowhere less than the diameter of the 
trap they serve. 

Back air pipes shall not be accepted as protection against 
syphonage for kitchen or pantry sink traps nor for any trap 
regularly used for discharging greasy waste. 

All back air pipes shall be provided with clean-out screw 
caps at every 90 degree bend on vertical runs for the peri- 
odical removal of rust flakes or other deposits, and these 
caps shall be opened and the deposits removed as often as 
they accumulate in quantity sufficient to reduce the bore 01 
the pipe by one-third of its area, whereby its effectiveness in 
protecting the trap from syphonage may be destroyed. 

Suitable provision shall be made to prevent the upper end 
of the back air pipe from being obstructed by frost or snow in 
cold weather. 

The Joints of all back air pipes shall be tested for tightness 
as provided for in Sections 34 to 40. 

Section 12. Mechanical Vents. Where mechanical vents are 
accepted as meeting the requirements of this section, suitable 
provision shall be made to ensure their mechanical parts 
against being rendered inoperative by rust, sediment or other 
cause. 



♦These proportions to be calculated and substituted for the alge- 
braic expressions here given. 

686 



Plumbing Laws. 

Section 13. Protection of Water Closet Trap Seals. A 

shallow seal non-syphoning or refilling trap shall be accepted 
as a suitable back air vent for a water closet syphon trap 
provided the trap shall have proved acceptable under the 
standard test, and provided it shall be placed near enough to 
the water closet trap to be effective, and provided the depth 
of seal of such non-syphoning trap shall not exceed one quarter 
the depth of seal of the water closet trap, so that the water 
seal of the non-syphoning or refilling trap shall yield to the 
syphoning strain and admit air to break the vacuum before the 
deep seal of the water closet trap is affected. 

Section 14. Evaporation. The test for resistance to evap- 
oration shall consist in connecting up the trap with the test- 
ing apparatus and closing the valve V" and allowing the trap 
to stand for thirty days without refilling. The trap shall be 
accepted as fulfilling the requirements when it shall be found 
to have lost less than one-xth of an inch of its seal through 
evaporation in this time. 

When the trap is a syphon trap or intended to be protected 
by a back air pipe, the test apparatus of back air pipes (Figure 
3) shall be applied and a current of air shall be induced 
through the back air pipes by means of a suction pump or 
fan at a speed of one foot a second as measured by an 
anemometer. If less than one-xth of an inch of the trap 
seal is removed by evaporation in thirty days under this test, 
the trap and its back air pipe shall be accepted in this respect. 

Section 15. Back Pressure. For preventing back pressure 
all soil pipes shall be connected with the horizontal drain? 
and all horizontal runs by long bends, and no running or other 
trap of any kind shall be permitted in the horizontal drains or 
between the house drain and the public sewer. 

Section 16. Clogging. To prevent clogging the discharge 
of all fixtures shall be so constructed as to permit of the waste 
pipes being filled "full bore" after use and no trap shall be 
accepted which shall contain at any part a cesspool chamber 
having a sectional area measured at right angles with the flow 
of the water current through the trap of more than twice the 
sectional area of the inlet arm of the trap. Exception shall be 
made for grease or other special traps as provided in Section 32. 

Section 17. A Single Trap for Several Fixtures. Several fix- 
GST 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

tures may be connected with one trap, provided the trap is 
not over five feet from the outlet from any fixture. 

Section 18. Earthenware Traps shall have heavy metal floor 
plates secured to the trap flange, and the joint shall be made 
gas tight. 

Section 19. Supports. Soil pipes or iron waste pipes shall 
be supported by clamps to the wood work, iron drive hooks 
to brick walls, or bolted clamps to iron girders. 

Section 20. Chemical Laboratories. The installation of fix- 
tures and waste pipes in chemical laboratories shall be con- 
structed in acccrdance with plans approved by the Board of 
Health. 

Section 21. Stable Fixtures. The drainage of stable fixtures 
shall be constructed according to plans approved by the Board 
of Health. 

Section 22. Refrigerator Wastes and Drip Pipes. All drip 
or overflow pipes shall be extended to some place in open 
sight, and shall not be connected directly with the drain pipe, 
unless protected by an unvented antisiphon trap. No waste 
pipe from a refrigerator or other receptacle in which provi- 
sions are stored shall be directly connected with a drain or 
other waste pipe, unless protected by an unvented antisiphon 
trap. 

Section 23. Pipes and Fittings. The diameters of soil and 
waste pipes shall not be less then those given in the follow- 
ing table: 

Inches. 

Soil pipes 4 

Main waste pipes 2 

Main waste pipes for kitchen sinks on five or more floors 3 

Branch waste pipes for laundry tubs V/ 2 

Branch waste for kitchen sinks \y 2 

Branch waste for urinals V/ 2 

No branch waste for other fixtures shall be less than 1% 

Except that a three-inch soil pipe, with the approval of the 
commissioner may be used for one water-closet where it is 
not practicable to use four-inch pipe. 

When brass ferrules are used they shall be best quality, bell- 
shaped, extra heavy cast brass, not less than four inches long, 
and not less than the following weights: 

688 



Plumbing Laws. 

Diameters. Weights. 

2y 2 inches I pound ounces. 

3*/2 inches 1 pound 12 ounces. 

AYz inches 2 pounds 8 ounces. 

One and one-half inch ferrules shall not be used. 

Soldering nipples shall be of heavy cast brass or of brass 
pipe, iron-pipe size. If cast, they shall not be less than the 
following weights: 

Diameters. Weights. 

V/ 2 inches pounds 8 ounces. 

2 inches pounds 14 ounces. 

2 l / 2 inches 1 pound 6 ounces. 

3 inches 2 pounds ounces. 

4 inches 3 pounds 8 ounces. 

Section 24. Lead Pipes. All lead waste pipes shall be of 
best quality, known in commerce as "D," and of not less than 
the following weights per linear foot: 

Diameters. Linear Foot. 

per 
Linear Foot. 
V/> inches (for flush pipes only) 2y 2 pounds. 

1 l /z inches 3 pounds. 

2 inches 4 pounds. 

3 inches 6 pounds. 

4 and \y 2 inches 8 pounds 

Section 25. Brass Pipes. Brass pipes for soil, waste, vent 
and back air pipes shall be thoroughly annealed, seamless, drawn 
brass tubing of not less than number X Stubbs gauge. 

Threaded connections on brass pipe shall be of the same 
size as pipe threads for same size of pipe and be tapered. 

Section 26. Cast-iron Pipe. Cast-iron pipe shall be uncoated, 
sound, cylindrical and smooth, free from cracks and other de- 
fects, of uniform thickness and of the weights shown in the fol- 
lowing table. If buried under ground they shall be coated wit I. 
asphaltum or red lead. 

'689 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

Pipe, including the hub, shall weigh not less than the following 
average weights in pounds per five foot lengths.* 

If Hand Caulked If Machine If 

Lead Hub and Made Eigid Flexible 
Spigot Joints Joints Joints 

are Used are Used are Used 

2 inches 27% 20 17y 2 

3 inches 47% 30 22y 2 

4 inches 65 45 32% 

5 inches 85 60 42 

6 inches 100 75 52 

7 inches 135 100 75 

8 inches 170 125 85 

10 inches 225 175 115 

12 inches 270 165 

Section 27. Wrought-Iron and Steel Pipes shall be not less 
than the average thickness and weight set forth in the follow- 
ing table: 



Diameters 


Thickness 


Weights 
per Lineal Foot 


1% inches 


.14 


inches 


2.68 


pounds 


2 inches 


.15 


inches 


3.61 


pounds 


2% inches 


.20 


inches 


5.74 


pounds 


3 inches 


.21 


inches 


7.54 


pounds 


3% inches 


.22 


inches 


9.00 


pounds 


4 inches 


.23 


inches 


10.66 


pounds 


4% inches 


.24 


inches 


12.34 


pounds 


5 inches 


.25 


inches 


14.60 


pounds 


6 inches 


.28 


inches 


18.76 


pounds 


7 inches 


.30 


inches 


23.27 


pounds 


8 inches 


.32 


inches 


28.18 


pounds 


9 inches 


.34 


inches 


33.70 


pounds 


10 inches 


.36 


inches 


40.06 


pounds 


11 inches 


.37 


inches 


45.02 


pounds 


12 inches 


.37 


inches 


48.98 


pounds 



See Note on Page 694. 



690 



Plumbing Laws. 

Threaded part of the pipe if less than one and one-half inches 
long, shall be of the thickness and weight known as "extra 
heavy" or "extra strong." 

All wrought-iron pipe shall be equal in quality to "Standard," 
and must be properly tested by the manufacturer. 

Fittings on wrought-iron vent pipes may be the ordinary cast 
or heavy malleable steam or water fittings. Fittings for 
"Plumber's tubing" shall be heavy weight, with sharp threads. 

Fittings for waste or soil or refrigerator waste pipes of 
wrought-iron or brass pipe shall be smooth and sound cast- 
iron or brass, recessed and threaded drainage fittings, with 
smooth interior waterway and threads tapped, so as to give a 
uniform grade to branches of not less than one-quarter of an 
inch per foot. All fittings except cast-iron or brass fittings for 
wrought-iron pipes shall be galvanized. 

Ail joints for wrought-iron or brass pipe shall be screwed 
joints made up with red lead, and the burr formed in cutting 
shall be carefully reamed out. 

Section 28. Fixture. Waste Outlets to be large enough to 
fill their pipes "Full Bore." All fixtures other than water-closets 
shail be provided with strong metallic strainers placed over the 
outlets. The openings of all such strainers shall be equal to 
the area of the waste pipe, so that these pipes may be dis- 
charged "full bore." Every kitchen and pantry sink shall be 
constructed on the principle of a flush tank, and shall be pro- 
vided with a flush pot of not less than 20 gallons capacity, 
constructed to discharge itself automatically as soon as filled. 

Section 29. Drain Pipes, Etc. Drain and connecting ventilat- 
ing pipes shall be of sufficient size, and made of extra heavy 
cast-iron pipe if under ground, and if above ground made of ex- 
tra heavy-cast-iron, wrought-iron of standard weight. Cast- 
iron drains shall extend not less than ten feet from the inside 
face of wall, beyond and away from the building. 

Drain pipes shall be properly secured by irons to walls, sus- 
pended from floor timbers by strong iron hangers, or sup- 
ported on brick piers. Proper manholes shall be supplied to 

691 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

reach clean-outs and traps. Every drain pipe shall have a 
proper fall and shall be extended from a point ten feet out- 
side the inside face of the wall, unobstructed, to and through 
roof, and may also serve as rain water conductor where the 
combined system is used. The drain pipe shall be supplied with a 
Y branch with a brass clean-out or iron stopper as directed on 
the direct run, at or near the point where the drain leaves the 
building. Changes in direction shall be made with curved 
pipes, and all connections with horizontal or vertical pipes shall 
be made with Y branches unless otherwise approved by the 
commissioner. All drain pipes shall be exposed to sight where 
practicable within the building, and shall not be exposed to 
pressure where they pass through the wall. 

Section 30. Tight Joints. All joints shall be made air and 
water tight and shall stand the tests for tightness specified in 
this act. 

Section 32. Special Traps, etc. Every building from which 
in the opinion of the superintendent of sewers, grease may be 
discharged in such quantity as to clog or injure the sewer shall 
have a special grease trap satisfactory to the superintendent of 
sewers. Every building in which gasoline, naphtha or other in- 
flammable compounds are used for business purposes shall be 
provided with a special trap, satisfactory to the superintendent 
of sewers, so designed as to prevent the passage of such 
material into the sewer and ventilated with a separate pipe 
rising to a point four feet above the roof. 

The waste pipe from the sink of every hotel, eating house, 
restaurant or other public cooking establishment, shall be con- 
nected to a grease trap of sufficient size, easily accessible to 
open and clean, placed as near as practicable to the fixture that 
it serves. 

Section 33. Arrangement of Piping. All piping shall be as 
straight and direct as possible, and so arranged that it may be 
readily inspected, cleaned and repaired. If any part of a house 
drainage or plumbing system is so located or so constructed 
that obstructions therein cannot be removed without breaking 
pipes, such part shall be provided with proper accessible clean- 
outs. No trap shall be so placed as to be inaccessible. 

692 



Plumbing Laws. 

Section 34. Inspection and Tests. All new piping shall be 
given two tests by the plumber in charge; first the roughing 
in with five pound air test, second and final with peppermint 
or smoke and in the presence of the inspector or authorized 
deputy. The material and labor for the tests shall be furnished 
by the plumber. 

No drainage or plumbing system, or part thereof, shall be 
covered until it has been inspected as herein prescribed. 

When a plumbing or drainage system is completed and the 
water turned on and the traps filled, it shall be inspected and 
given the final test. When the location or style of any fixture 
is changed it shall be inspected. 

Section 37. Peppermint Test. Where the peppermint test is 
used for the final test, two ounces of oil of peppermint must be 
provided for each stack up to five stories and basement in 
height; and for each additional five stories or fraction thereof 
one additional ounce must be provided for each stack. 

Section 38. Smoke Test. The drainage system of all new 
buildings shall be given their final test with smoke by a proper 
smoke machine. After the whole system is completely filled 
with dense pungent smoke, an air pressure equivalent to one 
inch water column shall be applied and left standing at least 
ten minutes. If there is no leakage or forcing of trap seals, 
the system shall be deemed air or gas tight. 

Section 39. Notification of Inspector. The plumber shall 
notify the Inspector in writing when the work is ready for ip- 
spection. The application for the final inspection shall be made 
within ten days after the completion of the work. 

Section 40. Defective Work. If tests show defects the de- 
fective work or material shall be replaced and the test again 
applied. 



093 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



NOTE. 

One of the greatest wastes in the present complicated 
plumbing system is in the extra thickness of cast iron 
piping necessitated by the fracturing strain on the hubs 
caused by the process of hand caulking with lead of 
the bell and spigot joint, called for in most plumbing 
laws, as well as by the rigidity of the joints themselves. 

A scientific flexible joint would enable pipes of 
"standard" thickness to be used where now "extra 
heavy" are required to stand these strains on the 
joints. This about doubles the weight and cost of the 
cast iron piping. 

"Standard" pipe is amply strong enough to stand the 
strains of shrinkage and settlement of the building ma- 
terials even in new work provided flexible joints are 
used to take up these strains, as already described in 
our chapter treating of flexible joints, and it is amply 
thick enough, so far as rusting is concerned, to outlast 
the life of any building in which it is used. Therefore 
the public are sustaining a very heavy and unnecessary 
burden on account of the failure of plumbing legislation 
to recognize these modern improvements in jointing. 

The brass piping now required is also far heavier 
than is necessary. Flexibility in the brass piping is 
obtained by arranging the piping in the manner prac- 
ticed by steam fitters, angles and elbows taking up the 
play in places where the elasticity of the pipe itself is 
considered insufficient. 



694 



Plumbing Laws. 

Taken in connection with the other items of saving 
we have referred to in this treatise, including the omis- 
sion of the main house trap and of the back venting of 
traps, etc., our simple system of plumbing costs less 
than half as much as the complicated system in vogue 
and provides far greater convenience and security. 



695 




CHAPTER XLIII. 
Recapitulation. 

The following review of this course 
of lectures was published in the Boston 
Transcript of March 24, 1900: 

A PLEA FOR SAFER PLUMBING. 



Revision of the Present Laws is 
Demanded. 



Millions of Dollars Spent on Worse Than Useless Plumbing 
Under the Present Burdensome Building Laws — A 
Simple System Better for Health as Well as Economy — 
What Modem Science Has Demonstrated. 

A course of ten lectures on "Plumbing and Household 
Sanitation," illustrated by about two hundred lantern slides, 
has just been completed at the North End Union by J. Pick- 
ering Putnam, architect. The course has developed matter 
of exceptional interest to the general public, as calling at- 
tention to certain grave defects in our present plumbing 
laws, and suggesting methods of removing these defects 
founded on recent additions to our knowledge of the laws 
of sanitation and sewage disposal by eminent specialists in 
these matters. This course will be published in full by 
"Domestic Engineering" of Chicago. It has been condensed 
into a single paper read before the Boston Society of Archi- 
tects, which is in part as follows : 

"The present state of legislation and practice in house 
plumbing and sewage disposal is in many respects faulty, 
involving serious danger and great unnecessary expense. 



696 



Recapitulation. 

"Here Fig. I is an illustration of the waste piping of a 
house containing three tenements, and showing the com- 
plication to which our present plumbing laws are leading 
us. The drawing is a reproduction of a plate published by 




Fig. 1 (648). Complication with insecurity. 




Fig. 2 ( t>4i> ) . Simplicity with security. 
Reduced from cuts in Transcript article. 



a representative plumber as a model for the guidance of the 
craft, and a proper interpretation of laws now in force in 
most large cities and towns throughout the country, except 
that I have added the exterior sewer vent pipe and the 



697 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

drip pipes, not drawn in the original, but usually recom- 
mended. The whole of it. however, is not required by the 
building laws. A literal interpretation of the Boston law 
would also require another pipe not shown in this drawing, 
namely, a back vent pipe for the refrigerator traps shown at 
the left of the rainwater pipe. 

"Fig. 2 shows all the piping that is required not only for 
perfect sanitation, but for even vastly greater security than 
could be obtained under the present ordinances with the 
complication resulting therefrom. 

"Now, the laws in a few cities and towns permit plumbing 
to be done in accordance with the second simpler and more 
scientific system, which has been recommended by men of 
the highest engineering authority, and in view of the very 
great difference in cost between these two systems, it is 
evident at once to anyone that very strong arguments must 
be produced by those favoring the more complicated ar- 
rangements before legislators are justified in compelling the 
public to adopt them instead of the simpler one. It would 
not be sufficient for them to prove that their system was 
simply just as good as the simpler one, for the public would 
evidently prefer the latter as being less costly and easier 
to keep in order. They must prove two things more, name- 
ly, first, that the simpler system does not afford perfect 
safety ; and, second, that the complex system does do this. 

"As a matter of fact, they have proved neither ; whereas, 
on the contrary, the reverse has been positively demon- 
strated, both by experience and by the revelations of modern 
science. 

"It has been shown that the complication not only abso- 
lutely fails to perform the service expected of it, but that 
it has even introduced new and unexpected evils far greater 
than any it essayed to remove. It has also been clearly 
demonstrated that the simpler system actually is capable of 

698 



Recapitulation. 

furnishing complete protection. Now, there are a few very 
simple considerations which can be pointed out very briefly, 
and be easily understood by anyone, and which alone in 
reality prove this to be true. 

"The latest plumbing laws of Boston, those of 1898, con- 
tain thirteen sections governing the actual plumbing work; 
the rest relate to plumbers and inspectors. Of these thir- 
teen sections I find eight are, in the light of the most recent 
conclusions of reliable investigators both here and abroad, 
either inadequate or altogether faulty, and I believe that 
unless these sections are very soon amended the public -will 
find they have been grossly misled, and will demand reasons 
for it better than can be given. 

"Of these eight sections, the two most objectionable are 
128 and 125, the former calling for the back venting of 
every fixture trap, and this involves the use of most of the 
complication shown in the first picture. These pipes first 
came into use not many years ago, when sanitary water- 
closets began to supplant the old-fashioned pan closet. The 
new closets gave a better and stronger flush and were found 
to disturb the seals of fixture traps below them. A partial 
vacuum was produced in the soil pipe by the heavy plug 
of water falling from the closet, and this was observed 
sometimes to destroy the seal of ordinary small S traps. 
Certain experimenters at that time found that the seals of 
these traps could be protected by ventilating them at the 
crown, and they immediately published their discovery, and 
the plumbers immediately took the matter up and pushed 
it so vigorously that it very soon became the subject of one 
of the most unfortunate and burdensome building laws ever 
inflicted upon the people. In the few years since this trap- 
venting custom took root the much-abused public has spent 
many millions of dollars in worse than useless piping. 

"A very short time after the first experimenters had rec- 

699 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

ommended trap-venting other experimenters found several 
objections to the practice not foreseen by the first in their 
very hasty recommendations, and the later experimenters 
similarly published their objections. They found the mouth 
of the vent pipe, where it connected with the trap, quickly 
collected sediment, and, especially under kitchen and pantry 
sinks, very often became completely closed up by grease 
and fatty vapors. They also found the top of the vent pipe 
where it passed up through the roof of the house sometimes 
got closed up by snow and frost, in both of which cases it 
became worse than useless as affording a false sense of se- 
curity and standing in the way of the adoption of so-called 
non-siphoning traps, like the common pot and bottle traps, 
which at about that time were discovered to be capable of 
resisting siphoning action entirely and, if built large enough, 
permanently, without any vent pipe at all. 

"More important than all, these later investigators found 
that the vent pipe, by bringing a constant current of air 
directly over the water seal of the trap to which it was at- 
tached, licked up this seal with a rapidity exactly propor- 
tional to its efficiency as a ventilating agent ; and so quickly 
did it in this way destroy the very seal it was delegated to 
protect that boards of health were obliged soon after the 
introduction of the trap-vent law to issue circulars to the 
house owners, warning them of this great danger and direct- 
ing them to have some reliable plumber refill the traps every 
two weeks or oftener all through the summer season and at 
all other times when their houses were closed during the 
absence of the owners. 

"It was also found very soon that the great complication 
to the plumbing which this custom of trap-venting intro- 
duced seriously added to the danger of leakage through bad 
jointing and the increased use of material, and that it gave 

700 



Recapitulation. 

rise to dangerous and frequent so-called 'by-passes,' which 
are blunders in connecting- up the vent pipes in such a man- 
ner as to open direct communication between the drains and 
the house. 

"These and other grave objections to back-venting led the 
later experimenters to try very hard to have the trap-vent 
laws repealed. But it was too late, the people interested did 
not rush in so zealously as they did before, and Error ran 
twice round the world while Truth was barely able to cross 
the threshold. 

"At last, however, the defenders of trap-venting, com- 
pletely driven to the wall, were obliged to admit that the 
vent pipe did sometimes clog up and did set an air current 
in motion near the trap seal, and that this current must in 
time evaporate out the seal, because if the vent were at- 
tached to the trap much below the seal it would afford no 
protection against 'self-siphonage' or loss of seal by 'mo- 
mentum,' and they were obliged to admit that it added 
somewhat to the complication and therefore to the danger 
of bad joints and defective material and arrangement, and 
they therefore abandoned the advocacy of the law on the 
ground of protection against siphonage, but still adhered 
to it on the ground that it was needed to purify the branch 
waste pipes by aeration. 

"But here again they were badly beaten by the opposition. 
These showed that the branch waste pipes could be infinitely 
better purified by a powerful water flush followed by an 
equally powerful pure air flushing from the room through 
the fixture above the trap than by ventilation with foul air 
alone from the soil pipe through the back vent pipe. Thev 
argued that the plumbing laws should stipulate that every 
fixture should be constructed on the principle of the 'flush 
tank' by having outlets and outlet valves large enough to 
fill their waste pipes and traps full bore at every discharge. 

701 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

"This was as wise as it was important, but still the matter 
was not zealously taken up and placed before the legisla- 
tors, and this simple and useful provision has never yet 
been incorporated in our plumbing ordinances. 

"Nevertheless, there are public-spirited men among the 
plumbers, as in all callings, and these men have united with 
the sanitary engineers in condemning the law. One of the 
ablest plumbers of Boston said to me (confidentially, how- 
ever, as to his name) that the law was now a gross imposi- 
tion upon the public, but that the burden had been brought 
upon them by the early sanitary engineers, and that in all 
probability it would be left to the sanitary engineers to lift 
it off again. Many other leading plumbers in different parts 
of the country have since privately admitted the same thing. 

"In 189 1 the Boston Society of Architects voted against 
the trap-vent law and endeavored to have it repealed. But 
their efforts were without success. 

"In section 125 our plumbing statutes stipulate that 'every 
drain pipe shall be supplied with a suitable trap placed with 
an accessible clean-out at or near the point where it leaves 
the building.' 

"This involves an inner vent pipe often rising to the top 
of the house, as shown in our first picture, and sometimes 
also a sewer vent pipe from the outer side of the house trap, 
which sometimes again runs to the top of the house. 

"Now, cities and towns should invariably be provided with 
well constructed and well ventilated separate sewerage sys- 
tems, and the latest discoveries in sanitary science, land irri- 
gation and filtration and in bacteriology have made evident 
why and how this should be done. 

"In well built and fairly well ventilated sewers, like the 
modern sewers of Paris, the air is perfectly safe to breathe, 
and these sewers are daily visited by travelers. All sewers 

702 



Recapit u lation . 

should be constructed in this manner, but better ventilated, 
and the air within them being then entirely innocuous, so far 
as disease germs are concerned, and in all respects safe in 
proportion to the extent and liberality of their ventilation, it 
follows that every house drain should be built of sound, well 
jointed piping and serve as extra ventilation or breathing 
tube for the sewers. Hence the use of this main or 'inter- 
cepting' house trap should be prohibited by law, cesspools 
auoiished and the sewers improved and perfected with the 
aid of the money this simphrication saves to the public. 

"Thus the question of house plumbing is closely connect- 
ed with that of the sewerage systems of cities and towns, 
and these again with one another throughout the entire 
state and country. The question of sewage disposal is too 
broad to be considered as a municipal problem simply. It 
concerns the condition of the water courses throughout the 
state, and cities and towns bordering upon these streams 
and rivers can only be properly treated together as a whole 
in one broad, comprehensive scheme. Again, the investi- 
gations and experiments to which I have referred, in deter- 
mining the effect of siphonage, back pressure, evaporation, 
capillary action and flushing action in plumbing, should be 
made by the state for all of its cities and towns together. 
In this way much more exhaustive and satisfactory re- 
searches and conclusions can be obtained with the same 
money outlay than by leaving each city or town to investi- 
gate the matter for and by itself. 

'Tn our second diagram it will be observed that all the 
plumbing fixtures have been constructed on the principle of 
the flush tank. That is, their outlets have been made as 
large in their clear waterway as the waste pipes serving 
them and, where possible, their discharge has been made 
automatic. This automatic discharge is always possible, 
and, for good results, necessary, with kitchen and pantry 

703 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

sinks, of which one is shown a little to the right of the 
center of the picture. 

"It will also be observed that only three traps are required 
on each story to serve six fixtures. There are four strong 
reasons for this, one of which is that it saves both expense 
and complication. A second and still more important reason 
is that this arrangement protects the seal of the water-closet 
from siphonage. The small trap is, in this case, a common 
pot-trap of great width but comparatively small depth. This 
renders it anti-siphonic. A slight modification of the form 
of this trap will render it also self-scouring. But its seal 
is only two inches deep, while the seal of the water-closet is 
four inches. Accordingly, the pot-trap, being rendered by 
its form anti-siphonic, permits air to pass through its water 
seal under siphoning action without destroying that seal. 
Thus it serves as a back vent pipe for the water-closet seal. 
For the latter, being twice as deep, cannot be broken so long 
as a shallower trap seal connects with it. This is a law of 
plumbing hydraulics which we can easily understand with- 
out further explanation, and it is strange that it has not 
been made use of in plumbing before this by the practical 
plumber. 

"A third and equally important reason for placing the 
traps at or near the floor level instead of close to the fixture, 
as required by the law, is that it protects their seals from 
the effects of back pressure because the pipe above the trap 
is long enough to form a water column of length sufficient 
to resist the atmospheric pressure produced by this action. 

"Finally, a fourth important reason is that the traps re- 
ceive a much better scour when arranged in this manner 
than under the usual arrangement. The basin trap is scoured 
by the entire discharge of the bath tub. 

"The reason why cesspools in traps should be avoided is 
because they give rise to that form of fermentation which 

704 



Recapitulation. 

is called putrefactive decomposition, and although it may 
seem to be rather a trifling thing to debar them in house 
traps, yet when we reflect that a dozen such small cesspools 
in a single house must be multiplied by thousands or hun- 
dreds of thousands, when considered from the standpoint of 
the purification and proper management of the public sewers, 
it becomes a very important consideration indeed. For 
putrefaction generates the anaerobic or dangerous classes of 
bacteria which work without oxygen and which are hostile 
to the friendly or aerobic bacteria which thrive best in large 
volumes of fresh air. The modern principles of sewer con- 
struction require the sewage to be carried through the 
sewers and deposited upon the irrigation or filtration fields 
in its fresh state before putrefaction begins. In this state 
it leaves the sewer air innocuous and also forms a better 
fertilizer, whereas in its putrid state it becomes an element 
of danger in both places, and is even destructive to fish life, 
when it is carried directly into the ocean as at Boston. In 
its fresh state sewage forms a useful food for fish. 

'The recent researches of Laws, Andrewes and others 
show, first, that the number of germs of all kinds in sewer 
air is much smaller than in the air of the streets above them, 
and that this is due to the fact that the germs come in con- 
tact with the sewage and damp walls of the sewer and drain 
pipes, from which they cannot under normal conditions 
again escape. Second, that the bacteria found in sewer air 
are not of the same kind as those found in the sewage itself, 
but are of the same kind as those found in the outer air 
above the sewers, showing that the bacteria come, therefore, 
not from the sewage, but from the outside air above them. 
Third, that disease germs are unable to live long in sewage, 
where myriads of bacteria of decomposition, hostile to them, 
but friendly to man, abound ; and that as a matter of fact 

705 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

disease germs have not been found in the air of sewers in 
the very careful experiments so far made. 

"In corroboration and explanation of these conclusions 
the experiments of Carmichael, Wernich, Miquel, Naegeli, 
Pumpelly and Smyth and others show that germs cannot 
detach themselves from the surface of water at rest at nor- 
mal temperature, nor from the damp surfaces of sewers, 
showing that the water seal of a trap forms an effective 
barrier against their passage into a house. 

''Hence sewers can be constructed and ventilated in such 
a manner that the air within them becomes innocuous, and 
it is then evident that a simple system of house drainage 
without a main or intercepting trap and without back- 
venting can be made perfectly safe." 



706 



CHAPTER XLIV. 
Better Plumbing at Half the Cost.* 



Mr. President 
and Members of the Institute: 
I have here drawings representing two methods of plumb- 
ing the same house, one sometimes called the "two pipe" 
system, being designed in conformity with the average 




Fig. 650 



*Paper read before the 44th Annual Convention of the American 
Institute of Architects at San Francisco. Cal., Jan. 18, 1911. By 
J. Pickering Putnam Delegate from the Boston Chapter A. I. A. 

707 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 




Fig. 651 



c *• ** 



Mi/ A 




Author's Address before Am. Institute Archts. 

plumbing laws prevailing" in the United States, and the other 
in accordance with a simpler or so-called "one-pipe" system 
which promises before very long to take the place of the 
more complicated and costly one. The plans are, with a 
few unimportant modifications, of a house in Boston which 
I have recently rebuilt in part and enlarged, and which, 
therefore, show plumbing substantially as it had actually 
been executed under Boston laws. 

The simpler arrangement is the one I recommend but 
which the owners could not obtain on account of the plumb- 
ing ordinances. The cost would have been less than half that 
of the one which was executed, and its convenience and 
safety immeasurably greater. This statement of cost is cor- 
roborated by the estimates of three leading plumbers which 
I give herewith. 

In the two-pipe arrangement in this building there are 
two independent rain water conductors, both trapped at the 
bottom before entering the house drain. In the simpler ar- 
rangement a single conductor is used, and it serves also as 
the only soil pipe required. It descends in an ample venti- 
lating slot or recess in one of the party walls at about 
middle distance between the front and the back of the 
house. 

The use of antisyphon traps on the fixtures does away 
with all need of back venting. 

The bath room in the two-pipe arrangement has an outer 
exposure on the south front with a window for direct light 
and ventilation, while in the one-pipe plan the bath room 
occupies less valuable space near the centre of the house, 
where it receives continuous ventilation through heated 
flues and ample artificial light. 

This house is occupied only in the nine cold months of 
the year, and is closed during the summer. Hence, when 
the bath room windows in the Iwo-pipe arrangement are 

709 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

opened for airing, the ventilation acts of necessity in a di- 
rection exactly opposite to that which is intended because 
the warmer column of air in the house rises to allow the 
colder and heavier column from without to enter. The 
result is that all the bad air in the bath room, including all 
the imaginary disease germs still supposed by many to be 
inseparably connected with plumbing pipes, are blown 
straight into the house and distributed impartially through 
the various living rooms, parlor, reception and dining room 
for the equal benefit of all the occupants. This being law- 
ful and fashionable is still accepted by the unreasoning pub- 
lic as the best possible arrangement. 

The simpler plan provides a constant, powerful, upward 
and outward ventilation carrying all bad air and possible 
odors directly out of the house, incidentally ventilating the 
entire building and doing its work automatically and with- 
out the dangerous draughts necessitated by window venti- 
lation. 

Now that modern science has demonstrated the absence 
of disease germs from sewer air, we know that direct sun's 
rays are not required in bath rooms, and that, in fact, prop- 
er artificial lighting is actually preferable because it fur- 
nishes in its heat the motive power adapted to produce or 
increase the ventilation of the room. 

On the other hand, sleeping and living rooms do need 
direct sunlight, so that the interior arrangement of the bath 
room performs the double service of ensuring for it im- 
measurably better ventilation, and of reserving all window 
space for the rooms which actually require it. 

In our complicated arrangement the use of extra heavy 
lead-caulked cast-iron pipes is enforced by the law no doubt 
because thinner pipes could not stand the severe strains an- 
plied to the pipe by the caulking iron and by the hydraulic 
test, and because shrinkage and settlement in the building 

710 



Author's Address before Am. Institute Archts. 

materials are bound to fracture thin pipes and plumbing 
fixtures where rigid lead-caulked joints are used. 

In our simpler plant, on the other hand, we have design- 
ed to use flexible joints and to abolish the use of lead caulk- 
ing and the hydraulic test altogether. In this case, pipes of 
so-called "standard" thickness, weighing just half as much 
as the "extra heavy" pipes, are known to be amply thick- 
enough to serve in plumbing work with safety for a life- 
time, and inasmuch as the new flexible jointing has been 
proved to be permanently reliable and less than half as ex- 
pensive to make as the utterly unscientific and unreliable 
lead-jointing now in vogue, we are able to cut in two the 
cost of every foot of cast-iron piping used in the plumbing 
of the building. 

Finally, the "main house" or "disconnecting'' trap with 
its foot vent pipe has been omitted in our improved plan, 
in virtue of which, when this omission becomes generally 
adopted, the sewers will become so amply ventilated 
through every house drain and soil pipe that the air within 
them will surpass in purity that of the famous Paris sewers 
now visited by thousands of visitors of both sexes every 
year, as one of the very interesting sights of the gay 
metropolis. 

The money savings effected by all these improvements 
are shown by the following careful plumbers' estimates 
already referred to. 

In the two-pipe arrangement there are two main 4-inch 
extra-heavy soil-pipe stacks, which is the average number 
found in both city and country houses throughout the 
United States. These have here 100 feet of pipe, 40 joints 
and 18 fittings and cost for all material and labor, includ- 
ing applying the hydraulic and all other tests required by 
the law, as well as the usual fair plumber's profit, $133.00 
(omitting the odd cents for brevity). 

711 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

One of these main soil pipes might be dispensed with as 
shown in the simple plan. 

Next there are the two rain-water stacks usual in city 
houses, either inside the house, to avoid freezing, or out- 
side, one for the front and one for the rear. 

These require here 85 feet of 4-inch extra-heavy pipe 
with 20 joints and 9 fittings, and cost, by the plumbers' 
estimates (taking in each case the average between the 
three figures submitted), $115.00. 

Both of these pipes should be done away with where the 
the combined system of sewerage is used, because the 
4-inch soil pipe stack is more than amply large enough to 
take care of all the rain from the roof, and because the 
combination of the rain with the soil pipe greatly improves 
the flushing. 

We have next the 4-inch main drain pipe, with its 45 feet 
of extra heavy pipe, 21 joints and 9 fittings, costing 
$85.00. 

Then come the branch waste pipes, which cost $65.00. 

Next the two stacks of useless back-vent pipes with their 
branches having 180 feet of pipe of various sizes, 40 joints 
and 19 fittings, and costing $91.00. 

Finally there is the main house trap and its fresh air in- 
let pipe, costing $30.00, a fair average for this foolish ob- 
struction to ventilation and sewage outflow. It involves 
an average of at least 20 feet of 4-inch extra-heavy piping, 
a dozen joints, and half a dozen fittings including the trap 
itself. When the fresh air inlet pipe is carried up to the 
roof, as is often considered advisable for the purpose of 
carrying sewer gas away from the street level and up above 
the roof, on the same principle which directs that all soil 
and drain pipes shall discharge not less than 10 or 15 feet 
away from any window, then the cost of this item mounts 
up to double the figure we have given above as a fair aver- 

712 



Author's Address before Ak Institute Archts. 

age, but as the ordinances do not require this upward ex- 
tension I have not included it. 

The average allowance for testing, when the hydraulic 
and other tests for tightness are required by law, is put by 
plumbers at $25.00. 

The hydraulic test is a very costly and entirely inexcus- 
able extravagance, involving an undue strain on the lower 
end of the stacks and none at all at the top. 

All the above items foot up to $615.00 for the sanitary 
drainage. 

The fixtures shown in this plan are good but simple cast- 
iron enameled fixtures, and cost with their traps $290.00. 

To this must be added a number of expansion joints in 
the main cast-iron stacks, to diminish fracture in piping 
and fixtures due to settlement or shrinkage of the building, 
where rigid joints are used, for which I think a moderate 
allowance would be $60.00. Adding these two items to the 
drainage cost we have a total of $965.00. 

The cost of the cold and hot water supply and circula- 
tion pipes, including the copper boiler, is $254.00, making a 
grand total for all the plumbing and water supply of 
$1220.00. 

In this plan the upper story bath room occupies the 
southwest corner of the house and has one window. As a 
rule both bath rooms are thus supplied with outer exposure 
on the mistaken idea that windows with sun exposure are 
essential in bath rooms for perfect sanitation. 

Turning now to our one-pipe simpler plan in which all 
the bath rooms occupy the centre of the house, the south- 
west corner then becomes available for bed-chambers in 
which direct sunlight and outer air is without question es- 
sential for complete sanitation. The two extra bedrooms 
thus acquired when both the main bath rooms are moved 
from an outer exposure to the interior of the house, means 

713 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

a large increase of rental value. 

The cost of the single, flexible-jointed soil pipe and its 
branches of "standard" thickness required under this one- 
pipe plan, is $51.00 by the plumbers' estimates as before, 
figuring in the same manner. 

The drain pipe, also of "standard" thickness and flexible- 
jointed, figures out at $32.00. The testing of all the pipes 
in this system by a sensible, scientific smoke and low air 
pressure test, costs only $3.00. 

The number of feet of piping in the entire one-pipe sys- 
tem of all sizes and "standard" weight amounts to only 115 
against 475 feet of extra-heavy pipe in the two-pipe system, 
which is equivalent to 950 feet of standard pipe, so that the 
single system contains less than one-eighth as many 
pounds of cast-iron piping as the complicated system. The 
number of joints and fittings in the two systems is in similar 
proportion. 

Assuming the same fixtures to be used in the two sys- 
tems, the total cost of the sanitary drainage in the simple 
system, including the $68.00 for setting the fixtures, 
amounts to only $155.00, which is almost exactly one-quar- 
ter the cost of the corresponding work in the two-pipe 
system. 

Adding to this the cost of the fixtures themselves, 
amounting as before to $290.00, we have a total for the 
whole sanitary plumbing in the one-pipe system of $445.00 
against $963.00 in the other, which is less than half. 

Add now for the water supply piping, as before 
$254.00, we have a total of $709.00 as against $1217.00, or 
a little more than half. 

But from the saving of the outer bath room space for a 
bed-chamber or for two bed-chambers, where, as is usual, 
both bath rooms have outer exposures our $1217.00 must 
evidently be increased by the value of these two extra bed- 

714 



Author's Address before Am. Institute Archts. 

rooms. 

The average value per cubic foot for houses of this class 
is estimated at between 25 and 30 cents. It was in this case 
found to be 30 cents. The bedrooms measure 10 feet by 
12 feet, and are 10 feet high, giving a cubical contents of 
1200 feet, which at 30 cents a cubic foot gives an increased 
sale value of $360.00 per room or $720.00 for the two. The 
loss of interior closet value due to placing these bath rooms 
in the centre of the house, is nearly offset by the space con- 
sumed and construction-cost of the three-story air-shaft 
and roof ventilating skylight required by the law for the 
lower water closets in the two-pipe system. 

It seems, therefore, fair to say that the luxury of having 
outside window and sun exposure for these two bath rooms 
adds $720.00 to the real cost of the two-pipe plumbing 
when comparing it with the single pipe system, and this gives 
us $1937.00 for the real cost of the former against $709.00 
for the latter. 

In other words, the two-pipe system costs here $519.00 
more than twice as much as the one-pipe system. 

Under no form of reasoning can the greatly increased 
value of the property due to the addition of two such sun- 
ny bedrooms be overlooked, except under the assumption 
that the conclusions of modern science as to the freedom of 
sewer air from disease germs are unfounded, and that con- 
sequently the old-fashioned idea that sunlight is still need- 
ed in bath rooms for the purpose of destroying such sewer 
germs, and that the most effective bath room ventilation is 
to be obtained by temporarily opening windows upon the 
outer air rather than by the scientifically reeulated and 
constantly active suction of heated ventilating flues. 

The motive power I have installed in the house under 
consideration consists, first, in the main supply and return 
pipes of a vapor system of heating, and, second, in the 

715 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 



heat of the lighting burners." These burners furnish a 
brilliancy of bath room illumination superior on the whole 
to window light, not only because windows supply no light 
at all at night, but also because the shades must be drawn 
during the day for privacy, whereas cheerful and brilliant 
illumination may be had at all times in the inner 
bath rooms, ornamented or tempered to any extent de- 
sired, by leaded glass, as indicated. 

Even direct fresh air may be introduced at very slight ad- 
ditional expense by the aid of a duplicate set of air supply 
pipes built in the general heated flue, connecting each bath 
room independently with the outer air. This direct air sup- 
ply will then be tempered in stormy, freezing weather by 
the adjoining steam and return mains and by the light-burn- 
ers, and its volume may be easily regulated by dampers. 

Eoth of these refinements are practically unattainable 
when outside windows are alone depended upon. 

Part of the saving effected by our new arrangement may 
properly be applied toward installing better plumbing fix- 
tures and more of them. Accordingly in the simpler plan 
two complete bath rooms have been added to the outfit, and 
solid earthenware has been substituted for galvanized iron 
in the service sinks and laundry trays. In addition to this, 
automatic flush-pots have been installed on the sinks, form- 
ing an important measure of protection against grease clog- 
gin t in the kitchen waste pipes. 

The amount of money-saving which would be effected by 
the simplifications I have advocated above becomes still 
more startling when applied to whole cities. 

According to our census, the average cost of all build- 
ings annually erected in recent years, in the 49 principal 
cities of the United States, has been over six hundred mil- 
lion dollars per year. The average cost of the plumbing in 
these buildings is estimated by good authority at 7 percent 

716 



Author's Address before Am. Institute Arciits. 

of the total, which makes its annual cost about 42 millions, 
of which, according to our figures, between 15 and 20 
millions might have been annually saved. 

Taking for example the year 1906, which was somewhat 
better than the average building year, the cost of build- 
ings erected in San Francisco in that year was nearly 35 
millions, of which nearly 2 1-2 millions went into plumbing, 
and of this about a million could have been saved if the 
difference in the cost of the two systems of plumbing in 
that year was as I have described. In the future rebuilding 
of this city a most unusual opportunity seems to be afford- 
ed in this direction for both money-saving and sanitary ad- 
vantage. 

New York City erected in the same year nearly 156 mil- 
lions' worth of new buildings, of which the plumbing prob- 
ably cost 1 1 millions, from 4 to 6 of which might have been 
saved. 

Chicago erected that year 65 millions' worth of building, 
4 1-2 millions of which went into plumbing, and a couple 
or so of millions was thrown away ; and our city of Boston 
erected in the same time 23 millions' worth of buildings, 
throwing away between 6 and 7 hundred thousand dollars 
in useless piping. 

I believe the Am. Institute of Architects is better able to 
effect a reform in this department of building than any 
other body of men in the country, because, while absolutely 
disinterested, they are better equipped than any other body 
to view the situation broadly and scientifically, and to exert 
upon legislators the kind of influence which will compel 
them to take action in behalf of the public against the pres- 
sure of selfish interests and the inertia of ignorance and in- 
difference. 

Upon us, at any rate, lies a grave responsibility in the 
matter of bringing about this reform, because it is to us 

717 



Plumbing and Household Sanitation. 

that our clients, the public, look to safeguard their interests 
and health in all departments of building construction. 

I would suggest that some immediate action be taken by 
the Institute, recommending such simplifications as it is now- 
prepared to make, and that also a committee be appointed 
by the president to investigate the situation and report 
their findings with recommendations for further action in 
the direction of simplicity at the earliest possible moment. 

In the meantime I have prepared a simplified plumbing 
code, which is a modification of codes I had been asked to 
prepare for the use of a number of cities, and which have 
been in part adopted by them, after conservatism had, how- 
ever, expunged several provisions for simplification which 
seemed to me to be among the most important. 

This code, together with some observations and demon- 
strations in sanitary plumbing, giving in some detail my 
grounds for the recommendations I have made in this 
paper, which the limit of time allowed me has prevented 
my even briefly reviewing here, form the substance of a 
little book to be published this month by Doubleday, Page 
& Co. of New York, which I have dedicated to the Boston 
Society of Architects, in recognition of their conscientious 
efforts in revising the building laws of our city. I refer to 
it as a means of filling out some of the defects of omission 
which you may find in this paper. 



718 



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